二十世紀全球各地戰爭不斷，兩次世界大戰以及各國內戰，一張張震撼人心的照片，令戰地攝影師這種身份廣為人知。二十世紀上半葉的代表人物是ROBERT CAPA，他所拍攝的照片非常震撼，至今仍為後人所景仰。來到廿一世紀，以為當今世界格局相對穩定，戰爭似乎離我們很遠，但事實上又時刻上演著，戰地攝影師James Nachtwey比前人們走得更遠、走得更久，為的就是把一幕幕的真相公諸於世，在他的個人網頁也有這麼一句話：I HAVE BEEN A WITNESS，AND THESE PICTURES ARE MY TESTIMONY……
美國攝影師Irving Penn有個攝影師計劃叫「Worlds in a Small Room」，帶著可移動的大帳篷，到秘魯山區、摩洛哥沙漠、新幾內亞的森林部落等地方拍攝不同地域的人。Phil Borges受其啟發，關注發展中國家地區原住民的生存狀態，拍攝印尼、肯尼亞、墨西哥、西藏等部落瀕臨滅絕的文化及信仰，以影像喚起主流世界對這些民族或部落的關注。
類似的故事在世界不同角落重複上演，例如在厄瓜多爾，因為當地1973年發現了石油，吸引許多石油公司爭先開發，但發掘期間石油的洩露，卻令當地部落迫於無奈要不停搬遷，他溫柔的鏡頭正是無聲控訴。Phil Borges明白單靠他一人是遠遠不夠的，所以在千禧年時創建國際交流網站Bridges to Understand，將阿拉斯加北極村、秘魯、柬埔寨、阿塞拜疆等國家的原住民，與北美大城市的小朋友連接在一齊，教導他們如何以影像說故事，去分享、探索文化的多樣性，讓小朋友自小就有觸覺去了解及欣賞多元文化，從而去保育這種文化。
Photography was introduced to the world in 1839, and Hong Kong became a Crown Colony of the British Empire in 1841. The coincidence in time gave photography an invisible connection to Hong Kong’s history. To a certain extent, photographic images construct our impression of Hong Kong. Back then, photography is only available during the day due to its limitations, and the visual impression of the early night scenes in Hong Kong was absent.
For the residents of the sparsely populated small fishing village at that time, the bustling night scene of Hong Kong today is far beyond their imagination. Artist photographer Thomas Lin imagined that people in 1841 meet Hong Kong in 2020, simulating the photographic techniques of that time and constructing a blurry or overexposed night scene of Hong Kong.
Thomas imitated the limitations of photography at that time. There was no electric lighting, and the only light source for night scenes is moonlight. From historical documents, Thomas learned that the moon’s exposure value at the full moon is EV-3, which is an absolute value and consists of the different aperture and shutter combinations.
The selected shooting locations are closely related to Hong Kong history. For example, the place where the British army landed in 1841 is now Hollywood Road Park. The year the Island Eastern Corridor was built coincided with the signing of the “Sino-British Joint Declaration.” From this project, we also learned more about the history of Hong Kong.
Emily Allchurch擅長以充滿時代感的照片拼貼出古典名畫，當中最廣為人知的作品是始於2005年的「Towers of Babel」系列，以《聖經》裏的巴別塔故事為靈感，將倫敦、香港等不同城市的數碼影像拼貼成巴別塔的模樣。作品《Babel Hong Kong》曾在2018年的Art Central展出，當時她也分享其創作手法，將大量拍攝的購物中心、廟宇、住宅、高樓大廈及建築工地的照片，拼貼出烏托邦式的香港巴別塔。
《Babel Hong Kong》曾在2018年的Art Central展出。
在創作《Babel Hong Kong》期間，她對絲綢之路及馬可孛羅遊歷中國的故事深感興趣，於是在2019年她踏足絲綢之路的兩端，一邊是意大利水都威尼斯，另一邊是中國的蘇州、鳳凰古城及絲綢之路的起點西安等地方，探討在全球化的當下，這些城市之間的聯繫。她用鏡頭捕捉城市的每個印象，旅遊景點、建築物、遊人等，過程中拍攝逾四萬張照片，滙集成龐大的影像庫，再挑選數以百計的數碼照片合成作品。
創作這系列作品期間正值武漢肺炎席捲全球，《獅子與鳳凰》這幅作品更是在英國全面封城下完成。它啟發自十六世紀威尼斯畫家Vittore Carpaccio畫作《Miracle of the Relic of the Cross at the Ponte di Rialto》，講述信眾慶祝十字架治癒病人的神蹟，畫作裏可謂人山人海，不過在Emily的作品中，由兩座水城構成的畫面幾乎空蕩無人，繁華不再，卻有一種寧靜的美麗。一場突如其來的肺炎，竟讓這兩座水鄉同時上演雙城命運，再次印證「鏡像城市」之說。
Technology and the Internet are undoubtedly convenient for our lives, but it isn’t easy to distinguish between true and false information on the Internet. It is an indisputable fact that personal privacy in the era of big data is often visible.
Valentina Loffredo, an Italian photographer residing in Hong Kong, uses noses as a metaphor for privacy issues in the digital era to show the relationship between the Nose and Nosy. The former refers to the nose as well as inquiry; the latter, like the English slang term big nose, actually means gossip. People may like to curious about gossip, but the Internet has grasped your secret.
She uses the nose to visualise the concept of Nosy. The works include real noses, and most of the playful images are silicone noses used in medicine, makes it difficult to distinguish between true and false, just like ambiguous online information. In one of the image consist of yellow blocks, noses appear in different corners reminds us of the ubiquitous surveillance camera, as if monitoring your every thought and deed.
Comparing to the mysterious noses, the colourful background of the picture is more appealing. Valentina Loffredo said, “The images are just like the Internet. It is rather attractive from a distance, and it can also be confusing when you get too close to it.” The minimalist and abstract images have a noticeable trace of artificial scenery, which stimulate the viewer’s imagination.
Nosy
Date: Now till Nov 30
Time: 12-7pm(Tue-Sat)
Site: Novalis Contemporary Art Design Gallery, 5 Sau Wa Fong, Wan Chai
Bruno Barbey的足跡遍及五大洲，在日本拍攝「反對成田機場建設遊行」、越南戰爭、波斯灣戰爭時在科威特拍攝燃燒中的油田，還有發生在尼日利亞、巴勒斯坦等地的重要事件。儘管走過烽煙大地，不過他並不視自己為戰地攝影師，他曾如此解釋到：如果你只專注在戰地攝影，眼見遍地屍體或慘不忍睹的畫面，很容易變得憤世嫉俗。
這本攝影集前身是1999年推出的《SUMO》，它重35.4公斤、尺寸為70x50cm，名副其實是一本「巨著」，重量及體積均打破書本記錄。不鏽鋼書架由法國著名設計師Philippe Starck操刀，當年推出一萬本，Helmut Newton親自為每本攝影書簽名，結果很快銷售一空，連紐約現代藝術博物館（MoMA）也收藏此書，可見其影響力，連他本人也用「That book was an outrageous idea—totally crazy!」來形容這本書。千禧年時，有逾百位名人簽名的首本《SUMO》進行拍賣，結果以62萬德國馬克（約31萬歐元）成交，成為二十世紀推出的最貴書籍。
Helmut Newton一輩子都與女性有著不解之緣。小時候由於母親的精心打扮，他時常被誤認為是女孩子，而這卻無阻他對女人的迷戀。十二歲時他愛上游水，吸引的除了運動本身，更重要是可在泳池邊欣賞身材曼妙的女孩。同年，他擁有人生首部相機Zeiss Box Tengor，開始對攝影萌生興趣，他十分喜歡在柏林的地鐵站拍攝，標記性的柏林廣播塔（Funkturm Berlin）更吸引他不停按下快門。十六歲時，他想成為攝影師，於是從學校輟學，拜師德國女攝影師Yva，可惜兩年後戰爭爆發，同為猶太人的Yva遭受迫害，不久後死在奧斯威辛集中營。
