| In fact, there was little public awareness of the poverty in the countryside. Xie says he expected to find the beautiful landscapes he had heard about in popular songs about folk customs. Instead, what he found was cruel poverty. |
实际上，人们对农村的贫困知之甚少。 解海龙说，他本希望能够找到流行民歌中听歌唱的美景，然而他找到的却是残酷的贫穷。 |
| "What we were told was that everything is perfect in rural areas - villagers are quite rich and living a happy life," Xie says. "But you would be disappointed and shocked when you personally see it." |
他说：“我们所了解的农村只是它美好的一面：村民非常富有，过着幸福的生活。但是当你亲眼看到，就会感到非常失望和震惊。” |
| The Chinese government introduced its compulsory nine-year education program in 1986. Despite a promise to provide free education for every child, the government faced – and still faces - shortfalls in its education funds, especially in rural areas. The annual per capita expenditure on rural schoolchildren at the time was less than 10 yuan, Xie found. He asked his boss for a year off to explore their lives. |
中国政府从1986年开始实行九年制义务教育。虽然承诺向每个孩子提供免费义务教育，但是政府从过去到现在都面临着教育经费不足的局面，特别是在农村地区，情况更糟糕。那个时候，解海龙发现，农村孩子上学，每年每人的投入不足10元。于是他向领导请假一年深入农村进行调研。 |
| "In 1989, as people began to xia hai [flock to cities to do business and make money], I decided to shang shan [go to the mountains, the more impoverished areas]," Xie says. "I knew these children needed my camera to make more people hear their cry, 'I want to go to school,' and I must seize the time." |
“1989年，当人们开始热衷于‘下海’经商时，我却决定‘上山’。我知道这些孩子需要我的镜头来让人们听到他们‘我要上学’的呼喊。我必须抓紧时间。” |
| Xie's journey into the impoverished countryside ofChinawas not without obstacles. He had to fund his travels and buy his own equipment himself. And though he had his boss's support, his colleagues thought his idea was ridiculous and dangerous. Some even warned him that the government may not want people to see the "dark side" of the country. |
解海龙对贫困农村的探访并非是一帆风顺。他得自己负担路费以及设备费用。尽管得到了领导的支持，他的同事却认为他的想法可笑，而且危险。一些人甚至提醒他：政府是不愿让人看到国家“不光彩”的一面的。 |
| But Xie was used to this kind of discouragement. As a factory worker, he had to save up for two months and sell his wife's coats and watch to buy an ordinary camera. At one point, he even donated blood for 75 yuan so he could develop his pictures. His colleagues ridiculed him for taking pictures in his spare time, even as they enjoyed the pictures he took of them. It was a journalist's work to take pictures, not a worker's, they said. This only inspired him to try to become a photojournalist. |
但是解海龙对这样的劝阻已经习以为常。作为一名普通工人，他必须省吃俭用两个月来存钱，甚至要变卖妻子的衣物和手表来购买相机。有一次，他竟然去献血，换回75块钱来冲印照片。尽管同事们很喜欢他拍摄的照片，但他们仍然嘲笑他在业余时间拍摄的做法。他们说，摄影是记者的工作，不是一个工人的分内职责。但这反而激励他努力成为一名摄影记者。 |
| He had already won many awards as an amateur photographer, but in 1984 a quarrel with his boss changed his life. An exhibit featuring works of groundbreaking American photographer Robert Adams was in town, and Xie asked for a day off from work to see it. His boss refused him, saying a worker like him needn't pay attention to such cultural things. But Xie realized that his talents could not progress if he was forbidden to practice his love. He ignored his boss and went. Soon after, he became a lecturer at the Culture Publicity Office and quit his factory job. |
作为一名业余摄影师，他获得了许多奖项。但是1984年一次与领导的争吵改变了他的生活。当时城里正在举办一场在美国摄影界被誉为开拓者的罗伯特·亚当斯的作品展，解海龙想向单位请一天假去参观。但领导拒绝了他的请求，说像他这样一名工人不需要理会文艺。但是解海龙意识到如果他不能实践自己的爱好，他的才能将不可能得到发展。他不顾领导的反对，毅然前去参观。不久之后，他成为文化站的一名讲师，并且辞掉了工厂的工作。 |
| Xie continued to win awards for his photography but began to find little meaning to his work. His early subjects were those around him: colleagues, friends, his son and wife. But he knew that he would remain an amateur photographer if he only took pictures of his family. If he wanted to become a professional photographer, he still had a long way to go. |
之后，解海龙的作品陆续获奖，但是他发现单纯追求奖项并没有什么意义。他早期的摄影作品主要是围绕他身边的人和事：同事、朋友、儿子和妻子。但是他知道如果只是拍摄自己的家庭，他仍将只是一名业余摄影师。如果想成为一名专业摄影师，他还有很长的路要走。
（China.org.cn 何珊 译）
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![Xie Hailong's first photo of rural education [CPA]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20090924/0011432100f50c254ceb3f.jpg "Xie Hailong's first photo of rural education [CPA]")
