當時的他負債纍纍、情緒也不穩定，不過這位充滿使命感的完美主義者，依然在1971年展開人生最後一個拍攝項目，在水俁市記錄這場工業污染對環境及人類的傷害，當中的代表作是《智子入浴》（Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath），這幅經典相片的構圖猶如米高安哲奴名畫《聖母憐子》，以溫柔的瞬間反襯受害者的痛苦。儘管對這幅擺拍的作品非常熟悉，然而從大銀幕上見到照片的瞬間，仍覺非常感動。
Blindspot Gallery is holding a portrait photography group exhibition entitled “Closer,” exhibiting nine photographers’ artworks, including Nobuyoshi Araki, Moriyama Daido, Ren Hang, and Nadav Kander. Nadav, based in London now, is well known for photographing the Yangtze River in China. He is also good at portrait photography, capturing people’s character through unique lighting.
Time Magazine invited him to photograph Obama and Trump, the Person of the Year, in 2012 and 2016, respectively. He focuses on their expressions with distinctive lighting, Obama looks thoughtful, and Trump seems arrogant. Looking back at the images now, it appears to mark the end of a particular era for the US.
The Chinese photographer Liu Zheng worked as a photojournalist for the Worker’s Daily from 1991 to 1997. “The Chinese” series photograph from 1994 to 2000 is his iconic works. He has traveled across the country to photograph Farmers, Taoist Priest, Peking Opera Actors, Dancers, Transvestites, Wax Figures, and even dead bodies, capturing the Chinese’s miscellaneous life. People’s expressions, clothing, and body language in Liu Zheng’s photos are either absurd or ponderous, and it reminiscent of Diane Arbus’s artworks. For Liu Zheng, these photos that integrate history, reality, and personal views not only break the limitations of traditional photojournalism but also reflect on his self-identity of being a Chinese.
Chinese photographer Ren Hang committed suicide due to depression in 2017, which shocked the photography and art industries. Ren Hang is known for his erotic images and humorous compositions. For him, being naked is natural, and the nude pictures are precisely part of his friends’ daily life. In most cases, the photos’ absurd and funny postures are not conceived in advance, but his close friends’ real state. It is provocative, yet it somehow represents the subculture of the young Chinese.
Although the art market deeply favors this avant-garde and deviant culture, it is destined not to be recognized by society. His photos are controversial in China mainland and often prohibited from being displayed. Not only that, sometimes even the photographing process can be very frustrating, and he was arrested by the police many times, but these setbacks have not deterred him, nor have they prevented him from expressing his body freely. Yet, no one expected that he was suffering from depression and ended his short life at 30.
Photography artist Pixy Liao is famous for her long-term photographic project, Experimental Relationship (2007- present), which captured the unconventional self-portraits between the artist and her Japanese boyfriend Moro, who is fives years her junior.
In traditional cognition, men are pretty dominant in the relationship. Yet, their relationship is just the opposite. Moro, under her lens, is quite submissive. Sometimes, Pixy sitting in a chair hugs her naked boyfriend. Sometimes, Moro gently leans on her shoulders. The artist took inspiration from their relationship and staged the different daily scenes. It presents the intimacy between lovers and also questions the gender roles in a relationship.
例如作品《Bright Line Rules》中呈現的中環景色，影像經過處理之後，恍如長時間曝光的車軌夜景，彷彿置身cyberpunk時空。同樣是中環夜景，另一幅作品《Reading Between The Lines》則把照片變成色彩繽紛的線條與色塊，宛如一幅抽象畫作。相片中的夜景早已變得面目全非，然而在色彩的迷霧中似乎仍浮現着城市景觀，讓人好奇畫面中的真實夜色究竟是甚麼模樣。
新聞攝影不能改圖，攝影師也無法控制照片在報紙上的呈現方式，這對藝術創作來說卻至關重要。從倫敦回港後，她拋下新聞攝影客觀、真實的包袱，開始用photoshop的改圖手法進行創作，主觀地破壞現實，甚至創作出一種主觀投射的假象。在作品《Into The Unknown》裏，表面上看是密集的高樓大廈景觀，然而仔細留意畫面的建築物時，發現它的某部份細節變成彩色的條碼。香港本是燈火璀璨的城市，在她的作品中，前景的黃色燈光變得更耀眼，遠處的山景瀰漫着一片黯淡藍色，畫面左方還有一條紅線從天而降。在以顏色區分立場的香港，這幅作品似在隱晦地表達出香港的現狀。
2003年，他見到有人身穿寫有「Jesus is my Homeboy」字句的T-shirt，深受感動的他萌生創作的念頭，如果耶穌來到21世紀，他會有怎樣的門徒？宗教題材向來是他的重要靈感源泉，最經典當然是Michael Jackson扮演的天使，而這系列作品同樣結合時尚與藝術元素，用現代手法重新演繹《聖經》裏的場景，包括五餅二魚、最後的晚餐、寶訓（sermon）及恩膏（anointing）等六幅作品，相片的門徒是流浪漢、妓女及毒販等，他們才是攝影師眼中耶穌在21世紀的門徒。David LaChapelle被喻為「攝影界的費里尼」，他以一向浮誇怪誕的風格，向消費主義盛行的社會提出批判。2008年，這輯作品曾在瑞士一間教堂展出，當「現代耶穌」遇上教堂，應該是個頗有趣的展覽。
TV-01
What will Jesus look like if he appeared in the modern world? The Easter holiday reminds me of the “Jesus” series by American fashion photographer David LaChapelle. He saw someone wearing a T-shirt written with the words “Jesus is My Homeboy” in 2003, which prompted the idea of Jesus came to the 21st century.
Religious themes have always been essential inspirations for David LaChapelle. One of the most iconic artworks is the “American Jesus: Archangel Michael Jackson.” The Jesus is My Homeboy series also combines fashion and artistic elements to reinterpret the scenes in the “Bible” with contemporary expressions, including Loaves and Fishes, Last Supper, Sermon, Anointing, etc.
David LaChapelle has always been ostentatious and grotesque to criticize the consumerist society. To the photographer, the homeless, prostitutes, and the poor people are the disciples of Jesus in 21st-century.
十年前移居法國的Kayee，2015年因哥哥贈送的單反相機才開始攝影，自此彷彿學懂一種新語言。她喜歡人像攝影，也鍾意看油畫，尤其是十六、十七世紀畫家卡拉華佐（Caravaggio）的作品，於是油畫便成為她的靈感源泉。她最近在香港舉辦攝影聯展，展覽現場的作品《The Taking of All of Us》就是源自畫家的名作《The Taking of Christ》。
《The Taking of All of Us》模仿Caravaggio名作《The Taking of Christ》。
另一幅明顯取材自達文西名畫 《最後的晚餐》的作品《Who Is Listening?》，她不但扮演耶穌，還一人分飾十二個角色。畫面右方的人全在玩電話，或自拍或在等訊息，彷彿活在虛擬世界中。耶穌左邊的人似乎在尋求溝通，有人在祈禱，甚至荒謬地融入一個殺人的故事。「每個人都有不同的意見及表達方式，很多時我們表面上在溝通，但實際上究竟有多少人認真在聆聽？」這幅充滿玩味性質的作品，或許正是現實社會的寫照。對她而言，這幅作品還有另一層自身意義，她天生有一隻耳朵沒有聽力，過往她也試過不能溝通的狀況，幸好這沒有對她的語言能力造成影響，還能說一口流利的法文。
展覽現場還有一幅作品《Sisters》系列作品，以16世紀畫作《Gabrielle d’Estrees And One Of Her Sisters》為靈感，畫面中的她按着另一個自己的頭，創作完作品後，她才慢慢理解自己為何要這樣拍攝。Kayee原本是雙胞胎，但另一位胎兒在媽媽的肚裏死去，這個創傷困擾她多年，令她產生一種倖存者的內疚感（Survivor Guilt），也覺得很難與人建立關係。
「這個想法在內心埋藏很多年，直至近年才慢慢走出這個困局，懂得如何去表達這種內疚感，當她將過去兩年創作的《Sisters》系列慢慢連結起來時，才明白為何會創作這系列作品。」這個想法也在另一系列作品《End of the Party》裏得到延續，多個長相、穿着一樣的她身處一座中世紀的莊園裏，隱喻着曾經共處同一子宮的經歷，雖然不知道莊園裏曾經發生過什麼意外，但最後只有一個人倖存，藉此去表達她內心的內疚及罪惡感。
《Sisters 1》以16世紀畫作《Gabrielle d’Estrees And One Of Her Sisters》為靈感。
觀察日常生活 角色互有交流
雖然Kayee的作品靈感源自名畫，也模仿油畫人物的姿勢及光影，不過她相片中人物的動作及反應，也源於對日常生活的觀察，例如人們吵架的表情等，再將人與人之間的互動融入作品。正如作品《Who Is Listening?》，創作時她圍繞中心的耶穌造型展開，用六晚時間逐漸建構出不同角色的造型與動作。影像的美感、構圖固然重要，角色之間的交流與反應，同樣令作品生色不少。
Creative and Humourous Self-Portrait Mimics Famous Painting
Oil paintings, especially Caravaggio’s paintings, inspire Hong Kong photographer Kayee C’s artworks. The work “The Taking of All of Us” is derived from the painter’s masterpiece “The Taking of Christ.” The painting is about Jesus being arrested and taken away after being betrayed by Judas. Kayee plays multiple roles in her image. Judas becomes the person who helps her make up, and the soldier becomes the person who is gesticulating with the finger. Someone was watching and taking pictures. “The social trends (e.g., weight loss) and aesthetics seem to take away women’s freedom of thought. In a sense, women are also participating in this tendency. That is why I represent the women in the image myself.”
The artwork ”Who Is Listening?” is derived from Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” She acted the role of Jesus and played 12 roles. The people on the right are all using phones, taking selfies, or waiting for messages as if they live in a digital world. The person on the left of Jesus seems to be seeking communication. Someone was praying and even ridiculously integrated into a murder story. “Everyone has different opinions and expressions. We seem to communicate with each other, but how much are we listening?” This playful work may be a portrayal of the real world.
The other self-portrait “Sisters” is inspired by the 16th-century painting “Gabrielle d’Estrees And One Of Her Sisters.” Kayee does not understand why she presses the other one’s head down in the picture until she created the work. She was initially twins, but the other fetus died in her mother’s belly. The trauma has plagued her for many years, causing her to feel Survivor Guilt and find it challenging to establish relationships with others. “This feeling has been kept in my heart for many years. It is until recently that I have slowly got out of the predicament, knowing how to express the guilt.”
Women Gaze
Date: Now Till April 25th
Time: 11am-7pm( Mon-Sat), 2pm-7pm (Sun)
Site: La Galerie Paris 1839, 74 Hollywood Rd, Central
