東京「寫真」巡禮：攝影美學帶來的視覺衝擊

東京都寫真美術館外牆

（圖片來源: http://museum.tachikawaonline.jp/23_syabi/）


攝影之眼的貪婪，改變了那個洞穴—我們的世界—裡的幽禁條件。 –Susan Sontag

攝影藝術自發展以來便不斷衝擊我們所處的世界，而它本身更如同一面鏡子，同時反映的是現實又是虛擬，也反射著攝影者自己與觀者。那麼，究竟是什麼的存在使我們對影像如此著迷？是攝影影像所帶給我們的觀看語法？還是它所擷取的世界片段？

「東京都寫真美術館」為日本國內唯一具有完善典藏與策展系統的專業「攝影美術館」，館內定期舉辦特展與典藏展，舉凡各種類型的攝影藝術皆會在這個獨立於其他綜合性美術館的展示間中展出。今年五月到七月，由寫真美術館館方所策劃的《平成25年度東京都寫真美術館典藏展–攝影美學中的五元素》（Collection Exhibition2013-The Aesthetics of Photography-Five Elements），策展人整理出館內的典藏作品，並提出一個核心的疑問："Where lies the beauty in a photo?”，從這個問題出發，策展人將跨足早期1870年到近年的作品分門別類，以攝影美學中的五種元素作為展覽的子題，包括「光luminous」、「反映reflection」、「表層surface」、「喪失感sense of loss」以及「參照reference」。從這五個子題中，觀者便依循著這樣的導引路徑，試圖在子題中尋找出攝影之眼的美學是如何帶給視覺上的微妙衝擊。

 東京都寫真美術館外牆

 《平成25年度東京都寫真美術館典藏展–攝影美學中的五元素》展覽現場

(圖片來源: http://www.museum.or.jp/modules/topics/?action=view&id=295)

佐藤時啓，《Breath-graph ＃155YUBARI》，gelatin silver print，2180*2730cm，1992

Where lies the beauty in a photo?

 展覽動線從子題「光luminous」開始，一幅一幅攝影影像為觀者帶來光與影觸及的影像美學。從攝影本身來看，攝影在拉丁文中如同「被光擠壓表現作用的圖像」，亦即經由光的作用顯像。攝影的發展可追溯至西元前四世紀，當時希臘人發現有光線穿過牆或窗的小孔時，會在對面的牆上映出外面的影像，這種光與倒影的反應原理也就是著名的「暗箱原理」(Camera Obscure)。雖然暗箱原理在文藝復興時代就與繪畫相結合，以繪製出逼真的畫面，卻無法留住暗箱中的影像，直到十九世紀攝影技術的發明，才發展出使影像固定的攝影術。策展人在此展覽中刻意將光的子題放置於展覽的開頭，藉由攝影術最初的技術面，討論到光與影對於攝影的重要性，亦試圖從本體論的角度出發，首先邀請觀者思考：「攝影是什麼？」，藉由攝影最基本的元素「光」，作為展覽的開端。在這個子題中，作品多為小幅的尺寸，只有佐藤時啓的作品《Breath-graph＃155 YUBARI》以略為大尺寸的方式輸出，以呈現影像在觀者眼前的視覺衝擊。佐藤時啓的攝影作品長期運用光筆與光鏡，使光線在畫面中宛如微生物般的跳躍與呼吸。《Breath-graph＃155 YUBARI》畫面中的廢棄房屋，在無數個光點的圍繞下似乎有了生命力，在這件作品的引導下，觀者可以感受到攝影如魔術般的魔力，在這些光與影的包圍中感受到兩者之間的互動關係。

山脇 巌，《Reflection in Mirrored Ball》，gelatin silver print，171*229cm，1932

「反映reflection」為策展人提出的攝影美學裡的第二個元素，此子題中的作品涉及到影像的鏡像作用與相片中的三種客體。從山脇 巌在1932年的作品《Reflection in Mirrored Ball》中，我們看到畫面對焦於一球體，此球體作為「被攝者」反映出的是對面拍攝它的「拍攝者」，然而這個「拍攝者」其實只是一台相機，沒有創作者在球體反映出的影像當中，而我們「觀者」則是在這個影像的面前，看著球體的鏡像反射。策展人從這個子題延伸至「表層surface」，藉由作品討論如同像中像的影像反射，以及影像的材質是如何影響到我們對於攝影影像的觀看。「表層surface」從知名的曼．雷（Man Ray）到森山大道的幾件作品，觀者可以看到影像輸出後的材質與影象畫面本身的緊密關係。其中，此次展覽展出許多十九世紀末的早期肖像攝影，例如玉村康三郎．騎兵衛所拍攝的老照片，構圖如同早期肖像寫真館的拍攝方式，排除了紀實性，更加著重於人物與背景間的純粹美感。然而，此一系列老照片在展場中以家庭相簿的方式呈現，破除老照片的神秘性，雖然隔著展示櫃，卻仍不減其翻閱的親切感。

《平成25年度東京都寫真美術館典藏展–攝影美學中的五元素》展覽現場

(圖片來源: http://www.museum.or.jp/modules/topics/?action=view&id=295)

雜賀雄二，《軍艦島–被遺棄的島上景觀》，gelatin silver print，422*348cm，1985。

（圖片來源：http://geckotw.blogspot.tw/2012/01/gunkanjima.html

       http://www.artgene.net/detail.php?EID=13735）

第四個子題「喪失感sense of loss」從攝影影像中的廢墟、遺址中以紀實的攝影方式，呈現類似檔案式的攝影美學。其中，雜賀雄二於1985年拍攝的《軍艦島–被遺棄的島上景觀》系列，針對二十世紀初曾經因豐富煤礦而有大批人口湧入的軍艦島（亦稱為端島）。然而隨著高度的採礦，這座位於日本長崎外海的小島逐漸喪失其優勢，居民也在1974年跟隨煤礦業的關閉而離開。類似雜賀雄二的廢墟計畫，台灣藝術家姚瑞中曾於2007年走訪台灣各個離島，以身體行動的介入所進行的攝影計畫，拍攝出一組一組被遺忘的離島廢墟。兩個計畫的影像皆以黑白色調呈現的廢墟景象，帶領觀者進入那些經歷繁榮一時到荒蕪一人的記憶景觀。然而，雜賀雄二不僅拍攝整體的廢墟場景，亦著重於廢棄物件的拍攝，藉由這些物件，我們看到的不僅僅是荒蕪的景觀，更是那些記憶的痕跡，影像所呈現的是一層一層的記憶堆疊，也因此引發了觀者對畫面的意象思考。

森村泰昌，《創造劇場：畢卡索的自拍照》，gelatin silver print，1200*900cm，2010

(圖片來源: http://www.museum.or.jp/modules/topics/?action=view&id=295)

展覽最終提出攝影美學的另一元素：「參照reference」，此一子題中的作品多以「編導式攝影」的方式進行創作，也就是藝術家等同於導演，在拍攝前便決定好場景、道具、構圖等組成畫的各個部分，拍攝過程中等同於在一個攝影棚中完成屬於一場影像表演。其中，森村泰昌的《創造劇場：畢卡索的自拍照》是其2010年最新系列的其中一件作品，如同森村泰昌過去著名的「挪用」手法，他以「扮裝」的方式將自己塑造成過去或名畫中的知名人物，運用挪古喻今的方式將自己置入影像當中。從《創造劇場：畢卡索的自拍照》中觀者可以從細節處發現藝術家刻意添加的暗示，如同蒙太奇般促使你察覺影像中的各種不尋常。「參照reference」在此展覽中是重要的總結，策展人試圖告訴觀者攝影影像的美學不只是那決定性瞬間，當代影像可能透過編導式攝影的方式，宛如電影中的場面調度，影像中的各個細節，包括光影、空間、佈景、服裝、化妝等配置，而畫面中的人物等同於演員，在影像中是不可或缺的重要構成。

綜觀當代視覺文化，攝影影像的影響力早已滲透至我們的日常生活之中，我們無法否認攝影影像所帶來的各種衝擊。談及影像的「觀看」，除了一般藉由相機的協助與記錄的「觀看」之外，還有一種「攝影式觀看」，這種觀看過程中會因影像中的各種修辭，而觸發了觀者的身體感知。《平成25年度東京都寫真美術館典藏展–攝影美學中的五元素》一展，提出攝影美學中的五個元素，試圖從「外延意」的層面歸納出屬於這些影像的內在脈絡。而影像的「內延意」則根據影像的文化與脈絡而定，同時觀者的介入更是建構其意義的關鍵。因此，藉由此次展覽，觀者從中隱隱的拉出屬於攝影美學的各種面向，亦可從中察覺日本的攝影藝術如何發展；如何受到西方攝影藝術的影響，同時亦能夠意識到自我與影像之間的關係是如何藉由觀看而產生連結。

參考資料

Roland Barthes著，許綺玲譯：《明室．攝影札記》（台北：台灣攝影工作室，1997年）。

鄭意萱：《攝影藝術簡史》（台北：藝術家，2007年）。

東京都寫真美術館官方網站：http://syabi.com/e/contents/exhibition/index-1869.html

An Overview of Tokyo”Photography”: Visual Impact from Photography aesthetics

This very insatiability of the photographing eye changes the terms of confinement in the cave,our world.

–Susan Sontag

Photographic art has been impacting the world in which we live since it was developed. As a mirror itself, photographic art simultaneously reflects the reality which not only is virtuality but also reflexes the photographer and viewer. If so, what is there that makes us so fascinated to image? Is it watching grammar to us brought by photographic image? Or is it a slice of world retrieved by photographic image? 

 

 “Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography” is the only professional Photography Museum with complete collection and exhibition event system, in which special and collection exhibition were regularly held, all kinds of photographic arts exhibited in this exhibition space independent of other comprehensive art galleries. The Office of Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography planned the event of “Collection Exhibition2013-The Aesthetics of Photography-Five Elements “ from this May to July. The curator arranged the collection works in the gallery and proposed a core question: "Where lies the beauty in a photo?”. Starting from this question, the curator would across the categories of works from early 1870 to the recent years based on five elements in aesthetic of photography as sub-topic of the exhibition, including “luminous”, ” reflection”, “surface”, ” sense of loss” and “reference”. The viewer in these five sub-topics can follow such a guiding path intending to find out how aesthetics of photographing eye brings subtle impact to the vision.

Where lies the beauty in a photo?

Traffic flow of the exhibition beginning from the “luminous” sub-topic brought image aesthetics that light and shadow in contact with from photographic images piece by piece. Photography in Latin means “the image squeezed by luminance to perform function”, i.e. the imaging through luminous function. The development of photography can be traced back to the 4^th century A.D. that the Greeks discovered the light could reflect outside image on the opposite wall when passing through the wall or small hole of the window. The principle of reaction between light and reflection is called “Camera Obscure”. Although camera obscure was combined with the painting in the Renaissance Era for the painting of vivid picture, it couldn’t remain the image inside of camera obscure. Photography for fixed image was not developed until photographic technique was invented in the 19^th century. 

The curator deliberately placed the luminous sub-topic on the top of exhibition, trying to discuss the importance of light and shadow on the photography through initial technical basis, and invite the viewers to think “what the photography is?” “Luminance”, the most basic element in the photography was used to initiate the exhibition. Most works in this sub-topic are small size except the work “Breath-graph＃155 of YUBARI” was exported with little large size to show visual impact of the image in front of viewers’ eyes. Yubari’s photography works is used with light pen and light microscope to make light as if a living creature jumps and breathes in the picture. Abandoned houses on the picture of ”Breath-graph＃155 YUBARI” seemed to be the vitality around numbers of light spots. The viewers guided by this work could feel the photography as fascination as magic and interaction between both surrounded by light and shadow. 

 “Reflection” is the second element proposed by the curator for photography aesthetics, the work of this sub-topic involved three objects including mirror effect of the image and photo. We could see that the picture focused on a sphere from “Reflection in Mirrored Ball”, the work of YAMAWAKI Iwao in 1932, which the sphere was used as a “ subject” to reflect its “photographer” opposite. However, this “photographer” was nothing but a camera without any creator in the image reflected by the sphere. The “viewers” like us were seeing specular reflection of the sphere in front of this image.

The curator extended “surface” from this sub-topic to discuss refection same as an image in another image and how the image material affected us to watch photographic image. The views could see a close relationship between material after image exported and image itself regarding “surface” from few works of well-known Man Ray and Daido Moriyama. Many early portrait photography in the 19^th century were displayed in this exhibition, e.g. old photos took by TAMAMURA Kozaburo,Kihee showing compositions same as those shooting models used by early portrait photo shops; these photos excluded documentary but focused on pure aesthetic perception between figures and their backgrounds. However, the series of old photos showed in the exhibition as the family photo albums broke down mystery of old photos, but intimacy was noting changed even separated with display cabinet.    

The 4^th sub-topic “sense of loss” showed file-based photography aesthetics with documentary photography from ruins and relics of photographic image, in which the series of “Gunkan-jima-The Ladscape of abandoned island” took by SAIGA Yuji in 1985 for the Gunkan-jima where a large number of population flooded into for rich coal mine in the early twentieth century. However, this island off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan had gradually lost its advantage with highly mining, and the residents left following the closure of the coal industry in 1974.  Yao Jui-Chung, Taiwan artist used the similar ruin project to that of SAIGA Yuji, visiting offshore islands of Taiwan in 2007 to shoot forgotten ruins of isolated islands set by set by involving the body action in on-going photography plan.       

Picture of the ruin were presented with black and white images for both plans, leading the viewers to access from once-booming to deserted memory landscape. Nevertheless, SAIGA Yuji shot not only overall ruin scene but also waste object. What we saw was not only desolate landscape but also memory traces. The images showed layer upon layer memory stacked to initiate image thinking of the viewer on the picture.  

The final element of photography aesthetics proposed in the exhibition is “reference”. The works in this sub-topic were mostly created by the way of “Staged Photography”, meaning the artist acts same as the director to decide all ingredients of a picture, including scenes, props and compositions, etc. Shooting process is equivalent to an image show in a photostudio. Yasumasa Morimura ‘s “A Requiem:Theater of Creativeity/Self-portrait as Pablo Picasso” is one of his new series in 2010, the skill of which was same as his famous “appropriation” in the past. He “made up” himself to be a well-known figure in the past or the painting, applying the way of using the past to allude the present and put himself into the image.  

The viewer could find it from the details of “A Requiem:Theater of Creativeity/Self-portrait as Pablo Picasso” that the hints were deliberately added by the artist, bringing you to perceiving various remarkableness same as Montage. “Reference” was an important conclusion in this exhibition. The curator intended to tell the audiences that aesthetics of photographic image is not just in the decisive moment but the contemporary image may be showed through the way of fabricated photography as if scene control in a film for every detail of the images, including allocation of shadow, space, setting, costume and make-up, etc. While figures in a picture are same as actors, they’re indispensible and significant compositions in a picture. 

Collection and Exhibition of Photography: Demand for the Establishment of The Museum of Taiwan Photography

“Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography” has not only complete system for the collection, but also regularly invites foreign famous photographic works of art to organize special exhibitions. The exhibition “Collection Exhibition2013-The Aesthetics of Photography-Five Elements “this time showed more fully the completeness of photography collection mechanism in Japan. In contrast Taiwan, many people in cultural circles appealed Ministry of Culture to establish The Museum of Taiwan Photography from last year and no further news till now.

The position and influence of photographic culture in Taiwan’s historical evolution has sufficiently constituted a complete cultural content. From early Taiwan landscape photography took by British photographers or missionary Mackay to anthropology photography in Japanese colonial period and then to the development in Republican’s years for portraits took by photo shops. In 60s, the works of contemporary photography, for example, those for Chang Chao-Tang'et al, in 80s, those photography for documentary reports and various contemporary photography created by contemporary artists…what these works need exhibition space one after another independent of ordinary art works and professional collection mechanism. When we rethink profoundly about the successful case of Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Ministry of Culture should understand the importance of photographic culture on Taiwan culture, and the necessity as well as urgency for the promotion of The Museum of Taiwan Photography.

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