Wuhan through Matt Neale’s Lens

By Huang Lu, Zhang Yawei & Li Ning

A photographer on a rooftop on Wuluo Road, Wuhan (Photo by Matt Neale)武珞路上的高空攝影師（馬特 攝）

Matt Neale, a young British man now living in Wuhan, said that Wuhan is a vast metropolitan city.

The vastness of this city provided Matt a gigantic canvas on which he composed a kaleidoscopic Wuhan with his small camera.

For the last three years, he has used his camera to capture the tall buildings and skyscrapers of the city, moments of life on the clean streets and quiet lanes, the daily life of dwellers day and night, and the tradition and modernity of Wuhan, a river city.

A Futuristic City

Like many westerners, Matt’s initial interest in China came from the mysterious Chinese kung fu and Jackie Chan’s movies. After that, he decided to discover this ancient and dynamic country when he graduated from university.

Matt wished to find a “mysterious” place to settle down. He said, “I’ve seen Beijing and Shanghai a lot on TV and in movies, but I knew very little about Wuhan before coming here.” He believed that he would discover real China by living in Wuhan. So he found a job as an English teacher in Wuhan No. 45 Middle School in 2016.

Matt Neale, a British teacher and photographer in Wuhan 英國攝影師馬特目前在武漢任教

Matt was impressed by the beauty of the city at night when the lights on the skyscrapers were on. He then captured the beautiful views with his camera and shared them on WeiBo. Unexpectedly his works on WeiBo received tons of thumbs-up and comments, which boosted his confidence in taking photographs on a daily basis. Then, he shuttled through the streets and lanes every day and recorded a different Wuhan through his lens. Up to now, he has shot more than 5000 high quality pictures.

馬特鏡頭下的武漢

文/黃璐 張雅薇 李寧

Traffic flow on Bayi Road (Photo by Matt Neale)八一路上車水馬龍（馬特 攝）

現居武漢的英國青年馬特說武漢是廣大的（vast）。

武漢的大，給了馬特一塊足夠大的畫布，這個英國小伙拿起相機，開始一項描摹武漢肖像的大工程。

3年間，他用相機拍下了武漢的城市風貌、市井熱鬧，拍下了這座江城的白天和夜晚、傳統和現實。

武漢是一個極具未來感的城市

和很多西方人一樣，馬特對中國的向往，源于神秘的中國功夫和成龍的電影。

大學畢業，他下定決心，來這個古老而強大的國度探秘。

馬特需要選擇一個足夠“神秘”的落腳點。“我在電視電影里看過太多的北京、上海了。但在我決定來武漢之前，我對它知之甚少。”

馬特覺得，在武漢，他可以感知真正的中國。2016年，他來到武漢四十五中學做英語老師。

初到武漢的馬特，發現晚上高樓大廈亮燈后非常漂亮，不自覺拿起了相機。當年5月，他在微博上發表攝影作品，很多人留言點贊，給了他創作信心。

此后，每天拿著相機，走街串巷，用鏡頭探索不一樣的武漢，成為他每日的必修課，目前已拍了5000多張高質量圖片。

爬上高層建筑俯瞰城市，是馬特很喜歡的一種拍攝方式。“這種時候，才切身體會到這座城市到底有多大。”按馬特的描述，那是一種非常純粹的震撼。

Skyscrapers on Yanjiang Avenue (Photo by Matt Neale) 沿江大道高樓林立（馬特 攝）

Matt is fond of capturing the city by standing on the tops of skyscrapers. Matt said, “When I stand there, I could strongly feel how boundless the city is.”

One of Matt’s impressive series is a set of photos of the Yellow Crane Tower. Matt was fascinated by the unique tower, which seems to be able to bring him back to the ancient times.

The bridges across the Yangtze River, street overpasses, and skyscrapers in Wuhan shot by Matt all seem like the hitech products and creations in the future. With a background of colorful lights, the streets suddenly become scenes out of a sci-fi film.

Last April, Matt held his first photo exhibition Standing on the Edge of Time in Wuhan. All 29 photos exhibit this sci-fi style.

In Matt’s eyes, Wuhan is a futuristic city.

A Journey through Wonderland

Matt’s works on the streets and lanes showcase the diversity of Wuhan.

He majored in documentary filming at South Wales University, and he excels at capturing the moments of daily life.

In his latest exhibition named Amid the Stories of a City, Matt’s works are full of narrative elements. Most of the photos were shot randomly on the street, and the protagonists were ordinary guys living in Wuhan. “Wuhan is a city which combines traditional culture and modern facilities. For me, living here is a journey through wonderland,” Matt said.

Although after living for three years in Wuhan, Matt still couldn’t speak Chinese, his love and appreciation of this city are both daily on the increase.

The dancing elders, the middleaged vendors, the young man squatting on a corner of the street, the sanitation worker at rest... all these people constitute a bustling picture of Wuhan. “I like the old buildings, old streets, traditional culture and all sorts of local snacks. I also like the majestic beauty of the Yangtze River.”

Matt said that Wuhan is a city full of inspirations and vigor. What he had done was just to capture these wonderful moments and expose them to those who want to be acquainted with Wuhan.

He also said that many of his friends learned about the dynamic Wuhan through his photos and came here to sightsee the wonderful city. “I will stay in Wuhan for several years, because I really enjoy the life here.”

(Translation: Li Li. Photos provided by Matt Neale)

A nightstand nearby the Zhongnan Road metro station (Photo by Matt Neale) 中南路地鐵站附近的小攤點（馬特 攝）

馬特拍攝的一組黃鶴樓系列作品，讓人印象深刻。在他眼中，黃鶴樓是很棒的建筑，非常獨特，就像穿越到古老時代一樣令人驚訝。

他照片中的武漢跨江大橋、立交橋、高樓大廈，仿佛來自科技高度發達的未來。本來熟悉的街頭巷尾，打上斑斕的燈光，充滿了科幻大片感。

去年4月，馬特在武漢的第一次攝影展《站在時間的邊緣》，展出的29張照片大多是這種風格。

在馬特眼中，武漢是一個極具未來感的城市。

生活在武漢就像一次奇妙旅行

離開高樓，穿梭于街巷中的馬特又拍出武漢的另一種感覺。

對曾在南威爾士大學攻讀紀錄片專業的馬特來說，捕捉尋常生活中的故事是他的愛好，也是他最擅長的。

在最近的一次攝影展《城事之間》中，馬特的照片融入了更多敘事元素。大多數照片拍攝于武漢街頭，主角就是生活在武漢的平常人。“武漢融合了傳統文化和現代文明，對我來說，生活在武漢就像一次奇妙旅行。”馬特說。

在武漢生活3年，馬特至今不會說中文，但這不妨礙他旁觀這座城市。

跳交誼舞的老人、擺攤的中年人、蹲在街頭的年輕人、休息中的環衛工……他眼中的武漢，變得市井熱鬧起來。“我喜歡武漢的老建筑、老街道、傳統文化、各種小吃，也喜歡長江的壯美。”

馬特說，武漢是一座充滿靈感的城市。他所做的，就是抓住無數個奇妙的瞬間，展示給所有想了解武漢的人看。

馬特透露，他的很多外國朋友，正是通過他拍的照片感受到武漢這座城市新舊并陳的戲劇張力。他們“慕照”來武漢旅行，和他一樣愛上了像電影場景一樣奇妙的大武漢。“我還會在武漢多待幾年，在這里的生活真的很開心。”

（圖片由受訪者提供）