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。
Paris, under the lens of the late German female photographer Ilse Bing (1899-1998), was particularly charming and fascinating. She spent the most fabulous ten years in Paris and captured its exuberance in the 1930s. F11 Foto Museum exhibited 103 photographs by Ilse Bing, and it also revealed her complicated life.
Bing was attractive to Paris’s vitality, and successfully seize its liveliness through the camera. The dynamic dancer’s picture she photographed with ambient light at the Moulin Rouge was much appreciated. Emmanuel Sougez, an art critic and founder of the French Periodical L’Illustration, was amazed by her images, praised her ability to capture the enchantment, and describer her as “Queen of the Leica.”
In a male-dominated society in the 1930s, Ilse Bing, as a photography enthusiast, gained her reputation as “Queen of the Leica.” She believes that photography is an art and focused on this new medium. The compact camera allows her to take pictures everywhere. In one of the most iconic selfies, she half-covered her face with a Leica camera, and the mirror behind reflected her side face, The two of her in the picture symbolize her photographic manifesto, which demonstrates the unlimited possibilities of photography.
This talented and intelligent woman combined art and commercial photography skillfully, and her talent was immediately recognized. At that time, she worked for Vu and Vogue Magazines and also photographed for the American version of Harper’s Bazaar. In 1936, she exhibited in the first modern photography exhibition in the Louvre, and also displayed in the “Photography, 1839-1937” exhibition held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The decade in the 1930s was the peak of her photography career.
走進跑馬地F11攝影博物館內，《榴槤飄香》的曼妙歌聲隨即飄入耳朵，深藍色的牆身猶如海洋，牆上的照片正是大半世紀前的香港，一個西方人眼中的美麗海港。當你很自然想起《蘇絲黃的世界》這部1960年的電影時，會發覺威廉荷頓在港島街頭走過的畫面，與這些照片一樣，有種似曾相識的感覺。殖民地建築、海味街、人力車與旗袍女子，一切都凝固在荷蘭攝影師Ed van der Elsken（1925-1990）的菲林裏。
展覽現場不但有小盒子還原舊時氣味，還有蕭叔叔的磁性聲音介紹作品。
Ed是二十世紀攝影界舉足輕重的名字，在《The Book of 101 Books》這本權威的「攝影界聖經」裏，布列松與Robert Frank等攝影大師只有一本著作入圍，但Ed卻有兩本，包括1956年首本攝影集《左岸之戀》（Love on the Left Bank）及1959年的《Jazz》。年輕時，他曾夢想成為雕刻家，受美國攝影師Weegee拍攝紐約都會生活黑暗面的《Naked City》（1945年）所吸引，開始走上攝影之路。
可惜是，他在翌年去世，無法親眼見證自己的著作付梓。 《 Hong Kong the way it was 》第一版在1997年發行，這些瀰漫着懷舊情調的影像，令F11攝影博物館創辦人蘇彰德深深着迷，他形容這是一本膾炙人口的經典之作，因此籌備今次展覽，事隔六十年，這批照片首次完整在香港展出，為那個美好年代留下見證。
Bob是首位被荷李活製片公司聘請為電影拍攝宣傳劇照的駐場攝影師，由1954年《星海浮沉錄》（A Star is Born）開始嶄露頭角，二十年來為逾百部電影拍攝劇照，包括《畢業生》及《魔鬼怪嬰》（Rosemary’s Baby）等，期間與柯德莉夏萍在《翠谷香魂》（Green Mansions）、《窈窕淑女》（My Fair Lady）及《儷人行》（Two for the Road）等多部電影合作。Bob擅於捕捉電影明星的自在一刻，同時充滿美感，在電影場景中，柯德莉夏萍優雅高貴；休息時，她流露出放鬆及開心的神態；她的歡樂與憂愁，在他的鏡頭下一覽無遺。
