Project Description

              The Stage Lighting of Han Jun, the “Premier Photographer” in China Source: Entrepreneur Daily by Chen Xi The 26 years of the growth of the Beijing International Music Festival have witnessed the journey of Chinese classical music making its way to the world. It has also been 26 years during which Mr. Han Jun, honored as the chief stage art photographer in the Chinese photography industry, has been documenting the performances of world-class music masters in China. Mr. Han Jun first encountered the inaugural Beijing International Music Festival in 199 Cruise. He has been committed to bold innovation, recording the exchanges between Chinese classical music and the world in an epic manner with a plethora of exquisite works. He is the sole stage art photography master in China who has comprehensively documented the Beijing International Music Festival for 26 years. Han Jun is the preeminent stage art photography master in the Chinese classical music realm. He was once respectfully referred to by the media as “the first to follow and photograph domestic and foreign music masters”. People within the Beijing classical music circle, including many performers, customarily address Han Jun as “Han Shoushe”, implying that he is the “chief photographer” in the Chinese classical music field. Han Jun has photographed hundreds of world-renowned art masters during various sessions of the Beijing International Music Festival, including world-famous conducting masters such as Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa, Riccardo Muti, and Tan Dun; violin virtuosos such as Anne-Sophie Mutter and Itzhak Perlman; cello maestros such as Yo-Yo Ma and Mstislav Rostropovich; vocal masters such as Plácido Domingo and José Carreras; world-class piano masters such as Martha Argerich, Krystian Zimerman, and Lang Lang; as well as domestic and foreign performing groups like the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Chinese Philharmophone Orchestra. He has created over 50,000 original works. Each edition of the Beijing International Music Festival has been documented by Mr. Han Jun’s works. This includes the historic Chinese premiere of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 performed by nearly a thousand musicians in the fifth session; the Chinese premiere of Shostakovich’s opera “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” in the ninth session; the world premiere of “Destruction and Memory” on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Chopin’s birth in the thirteenth session; and the grand musical event where all ten symphonic masterpieces of the composer were performed in their entirety on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Mahler’s death in the fifteenth session. The reason Han Jun has been continuously invited to photograph these international masters over the years lies in his consummate shooting skills and the long-term accumulation of profound artistic attainments. His ability to capture moments instantaneously stems not only from his natural talent but also from his efforts and innovation. In Han Jun’s photographic works, he uses music and light and shadow to record the precious stage moments of the Beijing International Music Festival. He employs distinctive capturing techniques, creating unusual compositions and effects of light application, thereby demonstrating the relationship between music and the stage. He follows the progression of the music to depict the joyful smiles, sad eyes, or angry expressions of the artists, giving viewers a sense of being on the stage. This unrestrained creativity endows Han Jun’s stage art documentary photography with a unique sense of authenticity and a strong humanistic touch, winning wide acclaim and cooperation within the Chinese classical music field. Particularly, among the many world-renowned conductors and artists he has photographed, some are elderly and some have passed away. His photographic works have thus become a precious treasure of human art. He is the owner of the IP copyrights of the works of international music masters. As a senior photographer of the Chinese Photographers Association and a photojournalist of the Chinese Portrait Photography Association, Han Jun is regularly invited to cooperate with national art troupes, important art institutions, and art festivals as a special invited photographer. These include the China National Grand Theatre, the Chinese Philharmonic Orchestra, the Beijing International Music Festival, the Chinese International Ballet Season, the “Music Lover” of the Sanlian Bookstore of China, the Central Conservatory of Music of China, China Central Television, and Deutsche Grammophon. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Beijing International Music Festival, at the invitation of the organizing committee of the Beijing International Music Festival, he photographed a series of commemorative group photos, which were used as the cover of “The Hundred CDs Published by the Chinese Philharmonic Orchestra”. Han Jun’s works record the aesthetic moments on the stage, exerting an extraordinary influence and attracting widespread attention and admiration from all sectors of society. Mr. Tan Dun, the winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Music Score and a renowned composer, praised Han Jun, saying, “You are the most vivid photographer who has photographed me.” Lang Lang, the famous piano master, said, “Teacher Han has watched me grow up and recorded every performance moment of mine.” Mr. Yu Long, the artistic director of the Chinese Philharmonic Orchestra, commended Han Jun’s works, stating, “Han Jun has been with me for so many years, photographing the Beijing International Music Festival for more than twenty years. He is the most persistent music-loving photographer.” Mr. Han Jun has received numerous awards in the professional field. A large number of his works have been exhibited in the China National Grand Theatre and regularly published in important professional media. He has also been interviewed and reported by important media. Han Jun’s Weibo account, which he updates daily, has 360,000 followers. It has become the most comprehensive resource library for the Beijing International Music Festival and the performance information platform that Chinese classical music enthusiasts pay the most attention to and collect. We are looking forward to the 27th Beijing International Music Festival in 2024, when Han Jun will bring us more wonderful works.