As an amateur photographer with the interior design background, Louis Cheung is very sensitive to lines, light and shadows, and objects that can reflect things. With the help of glass and the reflection of the pool, the corner of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre hides a hexagon; the hurry pedestrians in Wan Chai create an extraordinary mirror effect. For Louis, the reflection is not necessarily glass or water. The reflective car reflects the deformed Jardine House, and the remarkable picture looks like an abstract painting.
Hong Kong is a “City of Glass,” and the city is full of reflections. Jardine House is one of the landmarks in Central; photographer Louis Cheung used the reflection of glass to take a picture of two Jardine Houses side by side. The familiar buildings suddenly become a novelty.
Outside the Tsim Sha Tsui shopping mall, he photographs the sky from the ground. The reflective image is like an abstract eye. It is resonant with a famous saying of photographer Elliott Erwitt: photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place. Recently, Louis published a black and white photo book, “evoke hong kong photography,” to awaken the public concern about Hong Kong.
四年前,裴炳雨首次在香港展出大尺寸的松樹作品,從中環移師黃竹坑的Axel Vervoordt畫廊,最近再次舉辦他的展覽,展出十多幅由他親自沖印的小型作品,除了松樹,還有在濟州島拍攝的海景照片,每幅都是獨一無二。早在1980年代,當韓國人尚未認真將攝影當成藝術的年代,身為首爾藝術大學(Seoul Institute of the Arts)的教授,裴炳雨已開始在黑房裏用明膠銀鹽相紙曬相。
離開伊朗的日子裏,他的腳步及攝影生涯走得更遠,除了攝影,他也開始寫作。1981年,他加入馬格蘭攝影通訊社(Magnum Photos),並在1985年成為正式成員。1983至1986年,他以充滿詩意、唯美的鏡頭拍攝墨西哥,寫下墨西哥日記,出版的《Return to Mexico: Journeys Beyond the Mask》著作,一舉奠定其攝影美學地位。
SAUDI ARABIA. Plain of Arafat. Hajj pilgrimage. Pilgrims from all over the world pray on Mount Rahma. 1992.
如果說早期的作品是關於衝突與苦難,那麼後期他更側重宗教的信仰,伊斯蘭教、基督教、印度教、猶太教……他不只關注宗教的儀式,還有宗教滲入日常生活的細膩描寫。1987至1994年,他在四大洲29個國家拍攝不同的伊斯蘭教文化,從生活、儀式及體制等方面拍攝穆斯林,最後集結成《Allah o Akbar: a Journey Through Militant Islam》一書,是了解伊斯蘭文化的視覺窗口,此書在2001年九一一襲擊後,再次獲得世界關注。與其說他是一名攝影師,阿巴斯更儼然是一位宗教學者與作家。
SOUTH AFRICA. Cape Town. 1999. Every Sunday, at dawn, priests of the Zion Church, from the Khayelitsha black township, take their newly converted congregation to the sea to be baptised through immersion.
戰後的日本深受美國影響,思想上,他喜歡Jack Kerouac描寫美國旅途生活的小說《旅途上》,啟發他用相機替代寫作,在日本踏上「On the Road」的旅程。視覺上,他受美國攝影師William Klein的《紐約》影響,其隨性、不受審美標準限制的照片,呈現大都會粗野的一面,令他深覺震撼。而最早奠定他晃動、高反差、粗微粒風格的,是1968年與實驗電影大師寺山修司共同創作的首本攝影集《日本劇場寫真帖》,巡迴演出劇團、同性戀者、脫衣舞孃……那是一個充滿慾望的城市,森山大道以風格凌厲的黑白影像,顛覆既有的攝影觀念。
Joan喜歡極簡主義,照片簡潔留白,頗有想像空間。事實上,她總寄情於相,有一幅在銅鑼灣Apple Store隔着玻璃拍攝的腳印剪影叫《Walk with me》,「那時經常自己一個人,感覺沒有東西支撐,照片無形中給予我力量。」或許如此,她的照片流露出淡淡的憂傷與孤獨,鏡頭下的香港不見熱鬧,反而都是獨行的人。作品常見元素有雨傘,對港人而言有象徵意義,對她卻是個人感受,「我離開兒子的時候,是在一個雨天。」這把傘,擋着雨水,也撐着思念。