3/25/2007
不受傳統思想束縛的針孔攝影 / 艾里森．貝雀兒
觀賞萬一一的「逾越…壓抑與釋放」系列，有兩件事最引人注目：(1)它採用針孔照相機，(2)許多照片是以她自己為主角。她的這些作品反映出她對當今世界在性別角色上的一些傳統看法所提出的挑戰。萬一一採用歷史性的攝影技巧來探討當代的議題，這使得過去和現在、夢幻和現實、以及私人性和宇宙性之間的界線，顯得額外模糊。
萬一一的攝影採用透視法和空間的運用（攝影機前的空間，和婦女在世上所佔據的空間），來探討社會中和鏡頭下所呈現的女性形象。針孔照相機從文藝復興時期便開始被人用來將三維空間的物體，投影到二維空間的平面上。這類的照相機被稱為「暗箱」(意思是黑暗的房間) 註1，大約在十九世紀中期便產生了第一張照片。
針孔照相機的使用程序非常具有直覺性. 它所產生的影像往往給人一種屬於個人並且直接的感受。光線由物體反射後，穿過針孔直接在底片上形成影像，不需經過鏡頭。正因為針孔照相機沒有觀景窗，攝影師無法事先框取主題，成像結果往往難以預料。
同時，針孔照像機因為沒有用鏡頭來聚焦或修正透視的效果，影像往往較為柔和，並且稍帶扭曲。常常給人一種超現實的夢幻感，使觀賞者產生一種時空恍惚的感覺。萬一一的照片中所呈現的特殊透視效果，也讓人聯想到針孔攝影機所拍攝到的影像。就好像我們偷看到了私人世界中的私密情景。
照相機向來都被當成是一種能將女性描繪成物品的工具，也從而鞏固了婦女在社會中所扮演的典型角色。在此，針孔照相機的運用使得攝影能由現代科技下的照相機所具有的物化功能中解放出來。從某種角度而言，萬一一所採用的這種傳統的攝影程序，為當代的性別角色議題，提供了一個新的辨識層面。
萬一一的影像中顯而易見的質感，讓人聯想到十九世紀廣受歡迎的柯羅定濕版(collodion wet plate negative)註2。這個早期的攝影程序是在玻璃版上覆蓋上一層感光的化學物。當它還潮濕的時候，就讓它在照相機中曝光。攝影師往往在塗抹感光乳劑時，不夠小心，使得最後的照片仍然保有玻璃版上感光乳劑的質地感。這個質地感會使得作品帶有藝術家現身處地的感覺。照片也因此而具有一種手製品的涵義，而不再只是機械的產物。萬一一的照片也呈現出類似的感受，因為她選擇讓顯影化學物品保留在拍立得負片上，進而使得照片的質感帶有一種掏心吐腹的真摯感。
對於在這當中有許多照片是以萬一一為主角的這個事實，我們也不能忽視。 萬一一在她想要探討的這個「社會如何看待婦女」的議題中是一個主動的參與者。 但這並不必然代表照片中所描述的就是她本人。身為一位藝術創作者，她所表現的是來自她的經驗和看法。但她所要傳遞的訊息卻帶有普遍性。至於她將自己納入照片中的這個決定，使得作品更具真實感。這些作品當中，有一部分涉及了事前的策劃，並包涵了某些象徵性的物品。另ㄧ部分則依賴姿態和肢體語言來傳達訊息，影像較為優美微妙。
萬一一的照片大半是在私人場合中拍攝的，譬如在住宅內或教堂中。它想要表達的是：婦女有佔據這些空間的權力。針孔照像機的使用，在此將主角和她所存在的空間之間的關係誇大了。在某些照片當中，主角似乎融入了環境，幾近消失。在另ㄧ些照片當中，主角則充滿了整個畫面，與觀賞者正目相對。
萬一一的攝影作品同時具備了美麗和幽默，生動和優雅的特色。她所探討的是具有普遍性的問題，而她的表現方式，則是透過一些非常屬於個人而且私密的影像。 換句話說，萬一一在此以她完美的視覺語言，探討了當今世界婦女的生活經驗。
註1 拉丁文Camera意思是房間；Obscura是黑暗的意思
註2. 即火棉膠版
作者 Alyson Belcher，美國籍攝影家，大學在加州柏克萊主修人類學，研究所在舊金山州立大學主修攝影，現任教於舊金山藝術大學攝影研究所
萬一一的攝影採用透視法和空間的運用（攝影機前的空間，和婦女在世上所佔據的空間），來探討社會中和鏡頭下所呈現的女性形象。針孔照相機從文藝復興時期便開始被人用來將三維空間的物體，投影到二維空間的平面上。這類的照相機被稱為「暗箱」(意思是黑暗的房間) 註1，大約在十九世紀中期便產生了第一張照片。
針孔照相機的使用程序非常具有直覺性. 它所產生的影像往往給人一種屬於個人並且直接的感受。光線由物體反射後，穿過針孔直接在底片上形成影像，不需經過鏡頭。正因為針孔照相機沒有觀景窗，攝影師無法事先框取主題，成像結果往往難以預料。
同時，針孔照像機因為沒有用鏡頭來聚焦或修正透視的效果，影像往往較為柔和，並且稍帶扭曲。常常給人一種超現實的夢幻感，使觀賞者產生一種時空恍惚的感覺。萬一一的照片中所呈現的特殊透視效果，也讓人聯想到針孔攝影機所拍攝到的影像。就好像我們偷看到了私人世界中的私密情景。
照相機向來都被當成是一種能將女性描繪成物品的工具，也從而鞏固了婦女在社會中所扮演的典型角色。在此，針孔照相機的運用使得攝影能由現代科技下的照相機所具有的物化功能中解放出來。從某種角度而言，萬一一所採用的這種傳統的攝影程序，為當代的性別角色議題，提供了一個新的辨識層面。
萬一一的影像中顯而易見的質感，讓人聯想到十九世紀廣受歡迎的柯羅定濕版(collodion wet plate negative)註2。這個早期的攝影程序是在玻璃版上覆蓋上一層感光的化學物。當它還潮濕的時候，就讓它在照相機中曝光。攝影師往往在塗抹感光乳劑時，不夠小心，使得最後的照片仍然保有玻璃版上感光乳劑的質地感。這個質地感會使得作品帶有藝術家現身處地的感覺。照片也因此而具有一種手製品的涵義，而不再只是機械的產物。萬一一的照片也呈現出類似的感受，因為她選擇讓顯影化學物品保留在拍立得負片上，進而使得照片的質感帶有一種掏心吐腹的真摯感。
對於在這當中有許多照片是以萬一一為主角的這個事實，我們也不能忽視。 萬一一在她想要探討的這個「社會如何看待婦女」的議題中是一個主動的參與者。 但這並不必然代表照片中所描述的就是她本人。身為一位藝術創作者，她所表現的是來自她的經驗和看法。但她所要傳遞的訊息卻帶有普遍性。至於她將自己納入照片中的這個決定，使得作品更具真實感。這些作品當中，有一部分涉及了事前的策劃，並包涵了某些象徵性的物品。另ㄧ部分則依賴姿態和肢體語言來傳達訊息，影像較為優美微妙。
萬一一的照片大半是在私人場合中拍攝的，譬如在住宅內或教堂中。它想要表達的是：婦女有佔據這些空間的權力。針孔照像機的使用，在此將主角和她所存在的空間之間的關係誇大了。在某些照片當中，主角似乎融入了環境，幾近消失。在另ㄧ些照片當中，主角則充滿了整個畫面，與觀賞者正目相對。
萬一一的攝影作品同時具備了美麗和幽默，生動和優雅的特色。她所探討的是具有普遍性的問題，而她的表現方式，則是透過一些非常屬於個人而且私密的影像。 換句話說，萬一一在此以她完美的視覺語言，探討了當今世界婦女的生活經驗。
註1 拉丁文Camera意思是房間；Obscura是黑暗的意思
註2. 即火棉膠版
作者 Alyson Belcher，美國籍攝影家，大學在加州柏克萊主修人類學，研究所在舊金山州立大學主修攝影，現任教於舊金山藝術大學攝影研究所
The Liberating Pinhole by Alyson Belcher
In viewing the photographs from YiYi Wan’s Repression, Release and Beyond series, two things stand out: the artist uses a pinhole camera and she is the subject in many of the photographs. This body of work reflects her desire to challenge the way we perceive gender roles in today’s world. Wan uses historic photographic techniques to address contemporary issues, thus blurring the boundaries between past and present, dream and reality, and the personal and the universal.
YiYi Wan’s photographs make use of perspective and space--the space in front of the camera, and the space women occupy in the world--to explore the way women are perceived both in society and through a camera. The pinhole camera is a device that has been used by artists since the Renaissance to render a three-dimensional subject on a two dimensional surface. Historically, this type of camera has been referred to as a camera obscura (meaning “dark room”) and was used to make the first photographs in the mid-19th century.
The process of creating images with a pinhole camera is very intuitive, and the resulting images are personal and direct. Light reflected from the subject travels through the pinhole and forms an image on the film without having to pass through a lens. Since a pinhole camera has no viewfinder, the photographer cannot frame the subject and the results are never predictable.
Because a pinhole camera has no lens to sharpen the focus or correct the perspective, the images are usually soft and somewhat distorted. The result is often surreal and dreamlike, displacing the viewer in time and space. In YiYi Wan’s photographs, the strange perspective often resembles the images taken by a surveillance camera. We feel as if we are secretly peering into a very private world.
The camera has long been used as a tool for portraying women as objects and reinforcing stereotypical roles for women in society. Using a pinhole camera is a way of liberating the photographic process from the objectifying gaze of a modern, technical camera. In this way, Wan is reviving an old process to provide a new way of looking at the contemporary issue of gender roles.
The texture visible in YiYi Wan’s images is reminiscent of prints made from collodion wet plate negatives, a process which was popular in the 19th century. This process involved making prints from glass plates that had been hand coated with light sensitive chemistry and exposed in a camera while still wet. Often, if the photographer did not apply the emulsion carefully, the prints revealed the texture of the emulsion on the glass plates. The effect of this texture is that the presence of the artist is more visible in the work. The photograph begins to resemble something that was made by hand rather than a mechanically produced object. Wan has retained a similar look in her photographs by allowing the developing chemistry to remain on her Polaroid negatives. This is a deliberate choice on her part, and the texture contributes to the visceral, raw quality of her images.
We can’t overlook the fact that YiYi Wan is the subject in many of these photographs. She is an active participant in the narratives she has created to explore and question the way women are seen. This does not necessarily mean that the photographs are specifically about her. Wan is the creator of work that is based upon her experience and perceptions, but her message is universal. The fact that she has chosen to be the subject of her own photographs lends the work an authenticity that would not exist otherwise. While some of these images are more staged and incorporate symbolic objects, other images are more subtle and elegant, relying on gesture and body language to convey their messages.
Wan’s photographs are made mostly in personal places, such as the interior of a home or church. The stories that she tells are suggesting that she, and all women, have the right to reclaim these spaces. The pinhole camera exaggerates the relationship between the subject and the space she inhabits. In some photographs, the subject seems to blend into the environment, becoming almost invisible. In other photographs, the subject fills the frame and confronts the viewer with a direct gaze.
YiYi Wan’s photographs are at once beautiful, humorous, raw and elegant. She is addressing a universal issue, but she is doing it through imagery that feels very personal and intimate. The success of this work lies in the relationship between the photographic process and the artist’s message. In other words, Wan has crafted the perfect visual language to explore the experience of being a woman in today’s world.
YiYi Wan’s photographs make use of perspective and space--the space in front of the camera, and the space women occupy in the world--to explore the way women are perceived both in society and through a camera. The pinhole camera is a device that has been used by artists since the Renaissance to render a three-dimensional subject on a two dimensional surface. Historically, this type of camera has been referred to as a camera obscura (meaning “dark room”) and was used to make the first photographs in the mid-19th century.
The process of creating images with a pinhole camera is very intuitive, and the resulting images are personal and direct. Light reflected from the subject travels through the pinhole and forms an image on the film without having to pass through a lens. Since a pinhole camera has no viewfinder, the photographer cannot frame the subject and the results are never predictable.
Because a pinhole camera has no lens to sharpen the focus or correct the perspective, the images are usually soft and somewhat distorted. The result is often surreal and dreamlike, displacing the viewer in time and space. In YiYi Wan’s photographs, the strange perspective often resembles the images taken by a surveillance camera. We feel as if we are secretly peering into a very private world.
The camera has long been used as a tool for portraying women as objects and reinforcing stereotypical roles for women in society. Using a pinhole camera is a way of liberating the photographic process from the objectifying gaze of a modern, technical camera. In this way, Wan is reviving an old process to provide a new way of looking at the contemporary issue of gender roles.
The texture visible in YiYi Wan’s images is reminiscent of prints made from collodion wet plate negatives, a process which was popular in the 19th century. This process involved making prints from glass plates that had been hand coated with light sensitive chemistry and exposed in a camera while still wet. Often, if the photographer did not apply the emulsion carefully, the prints revealed the texture of the emulsion on the glass plates. The effect of this texture is that the presence of the artist is more visible in the work. The photograph begins to resemble something that was made by hand rather than a mechanically produced object. Wan has retained a similar look in her photographs by allowing the developing chemistry to remain on her Polaroid negatives. This is a deliberate choice on her part, and the texture contributes to the visceral, raw quality of her images.
We can’t overlook the fact that YiYi Wan is the subject in many of these photographs. She is an active participant in the narratives she has created to explore and question the way women are seen. This does not necessarily mean that the photographs are specifically about her. Wan is the creator of work that is based upon her experience and perceptions, but her message is universal. The fact that she has chosen to be the subject of her own photographs lends the work an authenticity that would not exist otherwise. While some of these images are more staged and incorporate symbolic objects, other images are more subtle and elegant, relying on gesture and body language to convey their messages.
Wan’s photographs are made mostly in personal places, such as the interior of a home or church. The stories that she tells are suggesting that she, and all women, have the right to reclaim these spaces. The pinhole camera exaggerates the relationship between the subject and the space she inhabits. In some photographs, the subject seems to blend into the environment, becoming almost invisible. In other photographs, the subject fills the frame and confronts the viewer with a direct gaze.
YiYi Wan’s photographs are at once beautiful, humorous, raw and elegant. She is addressing a universal issue, but she is doing it through imagery that feels very personal and intimate. The success of this work lies in the relationship between the photographic process and the artist’s message. In other words, Wan has crafted the perfect visual language to explore the experience of being a woman in today’s world.
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