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Author: Cheng Zhaoqiang Among the photos of old Jinan I saw, I particularly like the photos taken by Hedda Morrison. She focused the lens on the urban life of Jinan civilians and showed the unique style of old Jinan. . Hedda Morrison (1908-1991) was born in Stuttgart, a city in southwestern Germany. She studied photography in Munich from 1929 to 1931 and worked as a photography assistant after graduation. In 1933, Hedda Morrison accidentally saw a recruitment advertisement in a photography magazine: a Hartung Photo Studio opened by a German in Beijing, China was looking for a female photographer who could speak English, French and German. So she traveled thousands of miles and came to China from far away Germany alone to apply for this position and started her career as a photographer in Beijing. In Beijing, Hedda Morrison managed more than a dozen Chinese employees in a photo studio. Her work and life were extremely comfortable. Her unrestrained life made her fall in love with this land and its people. In the next thirteen years, she took a Flexflex dual-lens reflex camera she brought with her when she came to Beijing and traveled to the streets, alleys and scenic spots in Beijing and surrounding areas, taking more than 10,000 negatives. These negatives and more than 6,000 photos she printed and cropped were all donated to the Yenching Library of Harvard University in the United States after her death. In addition to Beijing, Hedda Morrison has also visited many places, including the Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi, Zhengding, Baoding, and Rehe in Hebei, Huashan in Shaanxi, Jinan, Tai'an, Weihai, Qingdao in Shandong, Nanjing, and Hong Kong, etc. land. Likewise, the natural scenery, historical sites, and urban customs of these places also enter her lens. Hedda Morrison has been to Jinan several times, but I have not seen any relevant records. In 1942, Hedda Morrison made a trip to Shandong, visiting Jinan, Tai'an, Qufu and other places, and took many photos. Among them was a set of Jinan scenery photos that recorded Jinan's city appearance, historical sites and citizens. life scenes. The photo shooting locations are mostly concentrated in Qushuiting Street, the moat bank, the city wall and Lingyan Temple. Qushuiting Street in Jinan is undoubtedly the street with the most Jiangnan characteristics. On this street, water flows in the middle of the street, the streets are on both sides of the water, and the Qushui River formed by the confluence of springs not only brings convenience to residents, but also brings endless happiness and interest. Hedda Morrison focused her camera on this street, and the urban atmosphere was instantly captured in the picture: neighbors gathered in the street, chatting on the street, sitting under the trees to enjoy the cool air, or squatting by the river to watch. Waterlilies and fish swim in the water; old people sit on the street to look after children playing, and young wives wash clothes by the river. This photo is not large in size, but there are nearly four elderly people, middle-aged people, and children in the picture. Ten characters. What’s even more interesting is that there is a man in a suit and a woman in a cheongsam in the picture. They are particularly conspicuous among the citizens wearing white cloth shirts and blue cloth pants. The scenery on the street is also unique: an old willow tree with thick branches and thick hanging branches stands by the river. There are several simple stone bridges made of long stones on the river flowing with clear spring water. The stone road has been Pedestrians trample on the street, and the houses and courtyards on the street are scattered in a scattered manner. A pergola made of purlins provides shade - the whole street is not uniform, but well-proportioned. It is not grand and gorgeous, but it is full of old Jinan. The smoke of fireworks in the spring house exudes a long-lasting ancient style. The moat of old Jinan has now become a city-ring park. Although the river water is still the spring water where many springs converge, it is no longer what it used to be. The moat photographed by Hedda Morrison in 1942 is a different scene: the moat has a small amount of water, and a clear water flows slowly in the middle of the river. Several middle-aged men stand in the river brewing bean sprouts and rinsing vegetables. Women were washing clothes by the river; several three- and four-year-old children also followed the adults to the river and stood there playing - there are many people and mixed objects in the picture, but they are messy and not messy, including the large tile used for soaking bean sprouts. Jars, wicker baskets and cattail bags for holding bean sprouts and vegetables, baskets and picks for selling vegetables and bean sprouts (Jinan people call them Danzhang, picks), and handmade two-wheeled carts are all displayed across the river and on the river bank.

People's clothing is more characteristic of that era. Green and white are the main colors. They are either black tops and black trousers (black is also called green), or white tops and black trousers. Their shoes are green cloth shoes sewn by themselves. People picking out bean sprouts and washing vegetables stood barefoot in the water, and their cloth shoes were placed by the river. The most interesting thing is that I saw in the photo a mallet used by women to pound clothes. In Jinan, Hedda Morrison traveled to Baotu Spring, Daming Lake, and Black Tiger Spring, and came to the moat and city walls. She photographed the markets on both sides of the road in front of the Qilu General Workshop, the roads and pedestrians on the Jinan city walls. , the pavilions, pavilions, painted boats on Daming Lake, as well as photos of cultural monuments such as the Pizhi Pagoda of Lingyan Temple, a famous temple in the sea, and the forty colorful clay sculptures of Arhats in the Thousand Buddhas Hall. In short, the Jinan-style photos taken by Hedda Morrison record the simple style of old Jinan and the life scenes of ordinary citizens. They are a true portrayal of social life in Jinan in the 1940s. If Liu E and Lao She wrote the vivid life scenes of old Jinan with their pens, then Hedda Morrison recorded the light and shadow of old Jinan with her lens.