Voices of Photography

Voices of Photography 攝影之聲

Issue 3 : 走出現實 Walk out from reality

When the reality in the society becomes more surreal than the surreal and the imagined far more real than reality, sometimes we can’t help but wonder: what is the world we live in like? Photography used to be entrusted with the function of “recording the truths and reality”, how could it escape from the ironic world of illusionary images? This time, we will try and explore the real and the surreal in photography.

In this issue of Voices of Photography, Japanese artist Yumiko Utsu challenges the world that is filled with desires with colorful yet eccentric still-life collages; Daisuke Yokota uncovers everyday life memories from his personal photographs and transform them into vague images of sound similar to psychedelic music; Taiwanese artist Chen Shun-Chu combines ceramic tiles and old family photographs into a language of images, rewriting the journals of time deep inside his heart; French artists Thomas Rousset and Raphaël Verona create a stage of magical reality, where the real and the imaginary are interwoven together; Chinese photographer Shen Yang constructs imagined spaces and visual experiences of agitation using the contrast between disproportionate and displaced city monsters. In the Artist’s Showcase, we reviewed Photographer Chang Chao-Tang’s 1989 classic “Notes About the Non-images” and revisits his 1970-1980 notes that transcend reality and dreams, together with his philosophy about photography. The real surrealism, as it turns out, exists in the snapshots of the reality itself.

Voices of Photography 攝影之聲

Issue 2 : 暴力 Violence

若說 2011 年是衝突動盪的年度應不為過。今年國際間發生了不少大事，包括「阿拉伯之春」掀起的連鎖起義、日本強震海嘯引發的緊急核安問題、蓋達基地組織首領賓拉登遭美國狙殺，乃至近期強人領袖格達費在利比亞內戰中被反抗軍處決及疑遭虐待等等事件，籠罩在各種環境衝突、政治衝突、社會衝突與報復主義中，全球度過了暴力的一年，卻未為暴力劃下句點。

當加害者與受害者的界線逐漸模糊、對於社會的冷漠無感甚而形成了另一種集體暴力，今日已難給予暴力明確的定義，但我們以攝影作為解讀暴力的註腳，藉此探索其中的樣貌。

在這期的《攝影之聲》中，塞爾維亞籍攝影家Boogie，在今年夏天踏進治安惡名昭彰的牙買加首都京斯敦，遊走黑暗之地捕捉氣氛詭譎的社會場景；長駐非洲的義大利攝影記者Martina Bacigalupo，揭露剛果婦女在面對生產照護不足的醫療之外，背後隱藏的性別與國家暴力問題；一般人避之不及的街頭鬥毆，芬蘭攝影師Harri Pälviranta卻在暗夜蒐集、檢視人類原始的拳頭本能；台灣攝影師雍志中以紀錄血脈賁張的放血派對，作為反抗集體價值暴力對個人身體的壓迫；旅日韓國攝影師梁丞佑則觀察新宿歌舞伎町衝突街頭中，生猛的次文化現象。此外，本期的Artist’s Showcase也特別介紹台灣攝影家陳伯義簡單卻富有禪意的石人系列，他以敏銳的觀察力與想像力，發掘了一個幽默的微觀世界。

It is not an exaggeration to say that 2011 has been a year of chaos. Many major events happened around the world, including the Tunisian Revolution that resulted in a series of revolutions in the Arab world, the nuclear security problem caused by the Japan earthquake and tsunami in March, the founder and leader of the Al-Qaeda being shot and killed by US Navy and CIA operatives, and the recent news that Muammar Gaddafi was suspected to be abused and killed by the rebels in the civil war in Libya. The world has seen a violent year, shrouded in vengeance and all kinds of environmental, political and social conflicts, but has yet to put an end to the violence.

When the line between the victim and the murderer is gradually being blurred, and the lack of feelings and compassion to the society has become another kind of collective violence, it is hard to give “violence” a clear definition. However, we have used photography as a tool in trying to explore and interpret the different faces of violence.

In this issue of VOP, Serbian photographer Boogie set foot this summer on Kingston, the notorious capital of Jamaica, and captured the dark and unseen sights of the underworld; the Italian photographer Martina Bacigalupo, who is based in Africa, reveals the gender and national violence problem behind the lack of healthcare that Congo women face during pregnancy; Finnish photographer Harri Pälviranta collects sights of the instinctual physical violence present in the street fights that others usually avoid; Taiwanese photographer Yung Chih-Chung rebels against the violence in the mainstream oppression of the bodies of individuals through documenting the intoxicating “bloodletting party”; Japan-based Korean photographer Yang Seungwoo serves the aggressive sub-culture of the street conflicts in the Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku, Japan. Also, this issue of the Artist’s Showcase makes a special introduction of the Taiwanese photographer’s simple and Zen “Stone Age” series, which shows a humorous and profound micro-world that the artist founded using his acute observations and imagination.