過去兩年的香港，荒誕之事層出不窮，近月連藝文界也接連被政治打壓，當不合理的行為變成常態時，我們又該如何自處及思考？攝影藝術家蕭偉恒的作品《清潔香港運動》（Clean Hong Kong Action）正是在如此的時代背景下誕生，他以不合理的方式處理遊行影像，當一切變得「政治正確」之後，這個社會又是否變得合理？
在自然界，一年有四季。隨着速食時裝（Fast Fashion）興起，在時裝界，一年變成52季，每星期都有新貨上架，換裝速度之快令人詫異，換言之，展示服飾的櫥窗公仔每年便要變裝52次。攝影師蔡耀龍（Ray Choi）以櫥窗公仔為靈感 ，2019年展開名為「The Lady of Fifty-Two Seasons」的攝影計劃，當盲目追隨潮流的人季季換衫，其實與櫥窗公仔有何不同？
Ray在2016年開始街頭攝影，當時是為陪伴心情低落的朋友用攝影走出困局，結果反而自己愛上攝影，一直拍攝至今。他曾用四年時間在旺角、深水埗等地拍攝「Long Way Back Home」計劃，聚焦途人的臉孔，他說香港人的臉上總是沒有表情，感覺就如櫥窗公仔。有次，他在太子一間店舖見到破爛的櫥窗公仔，心想究竟它何時會被換走，結果幾個月又幾個月，依舊如故。「一般人只當櫥窗公仔是工具，根本不在乎它有點破爛，只要能展出衣服已足夠。」這啟發他創作《Wounds》，成為這個拍攝計劃的開端。
Photography artist Ng Kai Fung created the “Sisyphus Metropolis” in 2019 which he photographed landscapes in Lung Cheung Road, Polytechnic University, and other places.
After experiencing a year of protest, these places have unique significance. He used a shift lens to photograph the city landscape from a distance. Taking “Lung Cheung Road” as an example, this is a landscape of Kowloon East and Lion Rock. The buildings in the picture are straight and compact. It does not seem surprising, but there is a weirdness if you pay attention to the light in the photo.
The building in the foreground is dim, yet the mountain behind is bright. Ng Kai Fung uses image stitching to create high-resolution artworks with the photos taken at different times, intertwining the interlaced images of day and night. “The scenery and lighting look unrealistic, echoing the state of Hong Kong at that time. It was normal during the day but unusual at night.”
Ng Kai Fung studied photography at Hong Kong Art School. His artworks were deeply influenced by literature and philosophy. “The Sisyphus Metropolis” was inspired by the French writer Albert Camus’s philosophical essay “The Myth of Sisyphus.” He annotated the works through words, “When the Almighty loses its dominance in society, politics, especially under Totalitarianism, becomes the only religion. Justice is replaced by the will to power, and they assume freedom is slavery for all.”
“The Myth of Sisyphus” ends with the work “The Monuments,” an image about International Commerce Centre next to the Victoria Harbour. It looks like a high tower and an obelisk of the city. “The tower is a testimony of human civilization, but it has nothing to do with ordinary people. Our lives have not changed. Instead, our morals are getting worse and worse.” The work is presented in the form of a cross to question what faith is. In a world without God, how can we establish a new moral value?
