The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJNG, Feb. 26) -- Before the sun rises, without the daily high heels and professional clothing I usually wear to work, equipped with over 5 kilograms of photographic equipment, including a tripod, I set off for the sites of the Olympic Games.
In order to capture pictures of "Bird's Nest" heroines--women welders--I climbed up over 100 meters into the air with them. Standing on 1-meter wide platforms, someone asked me, "are you scared?" Looking at the graceful movements of these heroic women, I was filled with respect and admiration. Holding my camera steady, I take one precious shot after another.
After the announcement of Beijing's successful Olympic bid, I spent a sleepless night thinking about what I could do to help accomplish the Olympic dream. In the beginning of 2006, my wish came true. I was accepted as a volunteer to help capture the process of the construction of the "Bird's Nest" on film.
Step one: Find a good location. Step two: Set up the camera. Step three: Wait for the right weather and light conditions. Step four: Press the shutter. Easier said than done. In order to take satisfactory pictures, I had to travel to each Olympic site at least two or three times, taking up whole days during my weekends.
Finding the proper angle in which to take pictures isn't easy. For security reasons, some sites were unavailable for entrance. The only thing I could to was to look for high-rise buildings around the site in the hopes of finding an appropriate angle from which to snap a picture.
When taking pictures of work being done high on Olympic sites, I used a telephoto lens from the ground to follow the workers, constantly focusing on their movements. Sometimes, I would hold that position for a half an hour, not daring to move my eye away from the viewfinder for a second. With the wind blowing silvery sparks downwards, my entire body suffered.
In the summer, sweat dripped from the safety helmets I had to wear and hair stuck to my cheeks; in the winter, my face was red with cold, my nose dripped constantly, and I couldn't feel my hands or feet. When it rained or snowed, paths in the sites were covered in mud, which meant that I, too, was covered in the sticky brown stuff. My weekday attention to an "elegant" appearance didn't exist here.
I gave a lot, but I also felt unprecedentedly happy. While on site, workers called out friendly warnings to me , advising me to take it slower, to be more careful. These friends often cleared the ground of rocks for me, and even sometimes bought water for me to drink. After each shooting, I would send the printed pictures to the workers. Watching them gather around the photos excitedly brought a smile to my face. Knowing that their work was noticed by someone, these workers performed shows for me. As I snapped away, they jumped for joy.
Neither height nor wind nor sun could take away my motivation to fulfill my dream of helping out for the Olympics. So far, I have already taken over 20,000 photos of Olympic construction projects and participated in a number of international and domestic exhibitions. Through these pictures, I aim to tell the story behind the Olympic construction projects, to portray the sweat that these workers poured into these successful masterpieces so that more and more people can understand and appreciate the Olympics. ormer International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch has seen my pictures, and praised China for our work performed in preparation for the Olympics. It is this kind of stimulation that motivates me to continue taking pictures.
