The portrait series “DUST ICON” by Stanley Fung has been gaining attention since its debut in China in 2016. The author, also a pastor, portrays his church members as models in this series. This work comprises 98 poignant pieces.
In his youth, Stanley Fung had vowed to become an evangelist himself. After his father’s death from cancer, he struggled for two years before deciding at the age of 35 to attend seminary.
He transformed a church in Shilin, Taipei, into a small, warm art space, picking up a camera to create the “DUST ICON “ series, using congregants as models and drawing from biblical stories. He regrets not understanding his father sooner, but is fulfilling his promise to his father through art.
Most of the works are captured under simple conditions: Stanley Fung uses his cherished Nikon FM2, a standard lens, a reflector, blackout cloth, and a large window that lets in light. Through this equipment, he presents a unique human perspective informed by the Bible.
Mick Jagger, Los Angeles, 1992這張花豹人臉的照片，這並非真實的化妝，而是一張雙重曝光的照片，相中人物是The Rolling Stones主音Mick Jagger。時為1992年，攝影師原意是拍攝Mick與一隻花豹共處汽車裏，由於花豹具侵略性，於是他們在車裏安裝隔板。正式拍攝照片前，攝影師先拍攝花豹，在取景器畫出花豹的面部輪廓，然後rewind菲林再拍攝Mick Jagger，當菲林沖好之後，他才發現Mick Jagger的五官正好與花豹的臉龐脗合，Mick本人也十分喜歡。
Albert Watson大學期間曾學習平面設計，之後離開出生地蘇格蘭，前往倫敦皇家藝術學院（Royal College of Art）修讀電影與電視。儘管天生右眼失明，但熱愛攝影的他一直堅持學習，並從事業餘攝影創作。Max Factor可說是他攝影生涯的開端，兩幅作品同時吸引雜誌界注意，慢慢地，他逐漸得到《GQ》、《Mademoiselle》和《Harper’s Bazaar》等時尚雜誌青睞，更經常往返於紐約與洛杉磯兩地，為不同雜誌拍攝，之後更成為《Vogue》雜誌攝影師。
雜誌攝影之外，他也為Gap、Levi’s、Chanel等品牌拍攝廣告，為《Kill Bill》、《The Da Vinci Code》等電影拍攝海報。他也曾設計唱片封套，1975年憑著為美國樂隊Mason Proffit設計的《Come and Gone》唱片獲得最高榮譽的Grammy Award。
工作以外，他喜歡到處遊歷，從摩洛哥到蘇格蘭，尋找攝影靈感。二百個《Vogue》封面、四十個《Rolling Stone》封面，Albert Watson現在是攝影界耳熟能詳的名字，2007年，他拍攝的一幅Kate Moss照片在佳士得以108,000美金成交，倫敦National Portrait Gallery和紐約Metropolitan Museum of Art也永久藏有他的作品，更被美國《Photo District News》雜誌評為二十位最有影響力的攝影師。
「疫情期間很多負面新聞，也會擔心感染，心情難免受影響。原本的生活雖已不再如常，但也要如常生活下去。」Bobby如此解釋攝影集的書名。影集的白色封面寫著「生活如常」，封底則是英文標題「As Life Goes On」，白色的設計傳遞出正面、積極的信息，相集最後一幅照片是位懷胎十月的女士，新生命的誕生也象徵著希望。笑言怕死的Bobby，在拍攝過程中也有新的領悟，「這次拍攝計畫接觸很多不同的人，他們在疫情期間仍堅持工作，對我也是有啟發的。這麼多人願意參與我們的拍攝計畫，令我體會到不同人的故事及感受，過程中也更認識自己。這次拍攝對我而言，也有療癒的作用。」
他說《生活如常——疫下群像》不是單純的影集，相片固然有價值，但文字的配合也很有心思，他在攝影集開端引述毛利人諺語——「世間萬物人為貴」（The Most Important Thing in the World is People.），這次疫情是全球性的，也關乎人類的處境，當病毒仍是現在進行式，如何擺脫疫情的恐懼與無奈，或許是人生必須面對的新課題。影集最尾引用英國作家Samuel Butler的名句，「生活猶如在公共場合獨奏小提琴，邊拉邊學。」(Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.) 言簡意賅的文字擲地有聲，也很切合疫情下世人的處世哲學。
《生活如常——疫下群像》一書很容易令人聯想起Richard Avedon著作《In The American West》，這系列每幅照片構圖精準嚴謹，著名的養蜂人肖像更分三次共拍攝121張照片，從而挑選出傳世之作。大片幅相機的拍攝成本很高，Bobby不像Avedon般有博物館贊助，他們專程為這次拍攝計畫買來相機、鏡頭、菲林及片夾等，每幅人像大概拍攝五張照片，事前自然做足準備功夫。許多人拍攝大片幅照片時會進行後期剪裁，以獲得更理想的畫面，他們則堅持不剪裁全片幅相片，這也是一種挑戰，同時令照片顯得更有誠意。
俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭後，移居美國的烏克蘭攝影師Yelena Yemchuk，在Instagram連續發佈三張身穿軍服的年輕女孩照片，她如此寫道：請不要讓這些孩子捲入戰爭，請讓我們美麗的國家烏克蘭擁有和平（Please don’t let these children be in a war please let there be peace in our beautiful, peaceful country Ukraine）。
說起著名的反戰照片，許多人會想起法國攝影師Marc Riboud的《鮮花與刺刀 The Flower and the Bayonet》。在Yelena Yemchuk發佈的照片中，身穿軍服的女孩笑容燦爛地望向鏡頭（另一位則流露著堅定的眼神），與戰場上的殘酷無情形成強烈的對比，同樣帶出反戰的訊息。
The images of young girls in military uniforms that photographer Yelena Yemchuk posted on Instagram impressed the world. She wrote: Please don’t let these children be in a war, please let there be peace in our beautiful, peaceful country Ukraine.
Speaking of famous anti-war photos, Marc Riboud’s “The Flower and the Bayonet” is probably the first thing that came to our mind. In Yelena Yemchuk’s images, girls in a military uniform look at the camera with a bright smile, which contrasts sharply with the brutality on the battlefield and carries an anti-war message.
Yelena Yemchuk was born in Kyiv in 1970. She immigrated to the United States with her family when she was 11 years old. On her 14th birthday, her father gave her a camera, and she became interested in photography ever since. Yelena first gained public attention by directing music videos for The Smashing Pumpkins and later created fashion photography for magazines such as iD and Vogue.
The photographer keeps visiting her home country every year. Her first photo book “Gidropark,” published in 2011, documented people are spending summers in the parks near the Dnieper River in Kyiv. She also made two short films and a photobook in Odessa, a Ukrainian port city on the northwest coast of the Black Sea.
早在五年前開始，他已籌備攝影集《Stop Tanks With Books》，希望透過影像及文字改變人們對戰爭的看法。此書匯集80張烏克蘭人的照片，也收錄烏克蘭小說家Lyuba Yakimchuk書寫關於衝突的文字。在攝影集即將推出之際，俄軍侵略了烏克蘭，他於是準備將其中750本寄給世界各地有影響力的人士，既帶出反戰的訊息，同時希望國際社會幫助烏克蘭，以阻止俄羅斯的進一步入侵。
A female soldier, Kyiv church choirs, a little boy in the Donbas region, British artist Mark Neville has successively posted Ukrainian portraitures after Russia invaded Ukraine. Mark started documenting life in Ukraine in 2015, devotedly photographing holidaymakers on the beach of Odessa, the Roma communities on the Hungarian border, soldiers and civilians living on the frontline in Eastern Ukraine. Mark was deeply attracted by the nation and moved to Ukraine from London In 2020.
Five years ago, he prepared the photo book “Stop Tanks With Books,” hoping to change people’s view of war through images and words. The book brought together 80 of his Ukrainian photographs and short stories about the conflict from Ukrainian novelist Lyuba Yakimchuk.
With the Russian troops invading Ukraine, many Ukrainians face displacement or death threats. Mark is sending out 750 complimentary copies of the book to influential people worldwide. The book not only brings out anti-war messages but also calls on the international community to support Ukraine and help deter further Russian intrusion urgently.
