Listening to the Silence Hardcover

There are many other things to be experienced

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兩年前鄧浩倫出版了第三本攝影集《聽靜》,那時我們還未成為朋友。前陣子他拿著用雞皮紙袋包著看來像書的東西給我,就說了一句「這次是100%我想要的東西」。原來我們常見面的時候,他正默默地製作這精裝本。

Two years ago, Tang Ho Lun published his third photobook Listening to the Silence. We were not friends yet back then. On a recent day, he came visit me and handed to me a small package wrapped in kraft paper bag and said, “This time, it is hundred percent of what I wanted.” It turned out all this time he was actually working hard on the hardcover version of his book.

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就像感覺完全迥異的兩個角落。是同一輯照片,卻似兩種內容。

The same set of photography was only presented in two distinctive faces, yet somehow the contents have become also so distinctively different.

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「上一次的平裝本是很淡淡然,那時候一直覺得,為什麼黑白照就一定要黑白很分明,所以刻意迴避那個取向,但成品出來時卻像隔了一層什麼,所以這次很想拿走那一層東西。」

“The paperback version last time was rather mild and subtle. I was doubting the usual practice of showing black and white photography in a stark manner, therefore I opted to avoid that direction. However, I felt the end product appeared to be under a shroud and I wanted to take away this shroud.”

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本來沒有想過要拍攝這些在日常撿拾回來的釘子,是生活中某些地方,可能只是很局部的一個角落,無法特意去找的,他一直有留意。這些地方有一種質感是渾然天成,因為被荒廢,沒有翻新,所以很多破落,可以獨自一人很安靜地。「慢慢我覺得這些地方和這些釘子可以有所聯繫。其中是一扇很老舊的窗,有天我試將釘子放在前面拍攝,然後便開始了這個系列。」因性質相近而走在一起,再到達了各自無法到達的地方。

He simply picked up the nails from random encounters without an intention to photograph them at first. Those encounters could happen anywhere in his daily life, without a particular plan needed. The locations were impeccable for they were abandoned without being refurbished, which provided a kind of deserted space where one can enjoy moments of solitude. “Sooner or later, I began to see a connection between these places and the nails. An example would be a shabby window. One day, I placed a nail in front of the window to take a shot. From that shot, I rolled out the whole project.” Things of similar nature would come together and reach a realm that was formerly unattainable if they did not get together.

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「這些地方很特別,例如有一把椅子在那邊,也不知道是誰放的,因為那裡是不會有人去的,可能偶爾會有些清潔工人去休息。那是被人發現了,然後變成屬於他們一個隱蔽的角落。」再變成他能夠獨自一人地,做獨自一人才能做到的事。

“Those are all very particular locations. For instance, there was a chair that was left by someone unknown. Usually that is a place nobody would visit, perhaps some cleaners would sit on the chair to rest from time to time. The place was found and was turned into their exclusive spot.” Afterwards, it became something that he worked on it alone.

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他說真正拍照的時間很短暫,不拍照的時間才最重要。就在等待剛好那個瞬間,再毫不猶豫地按下快門,近乎是直覺的東西。「的確是透過當下在做的事,呈現我想要的畫面,有點即興成分。我想我腦海裡沒有很準確的畫面,只是當我能專心投入這兩件事之間的聯繫,就可以即時拍到了。拍出來的那個畫面,是計算也無法做到的事。」

He said the time he actually spent on taking the photos was short. What matters more was the time that he was not taking pictures. That is the time when he was waiting for the perfect moment to press the shutter button to capture the definite moment with his instinct. “I made use of what I was doing at the moment to depict the image I wanted to show. It was somehow improvisational. I would dedicate my mind to feeling the connection between two things without presuming a precise image, that was how I took the pictures. The images I captured were something that cannot be done even through careful calculation.”

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其實對攝影的人來說,拍攝前會不會有很準確的畫面呢?「我想(我)是沒有的,但會有一個很清晰的印象,一個類似預感的畫面,像在夢裡面會看到很朦朧的畫面。你只會知道自己會做這件事、會去那裡做這件事。」

Do photographers have a precise image in their mind before shooting? “I believe [I] don’t. But I have a rather clear concept, sort of a premonition, or some blurry images from a dream. I know what I need to do, where I do it.”

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有一晚我靜下心來,從頭到尾把這本書看一遍,在只有自己沒有聲音的房間,這居然就像很多個微醺的夜,當身心都鬆軟,才看見不常意會的事就躺在那邊。那是隙縫裡微弱的光,誰被吸引而停下來,才看到隙縫裡的事。我們能感覺的還有很多。

The other night, I was in a calm state and read the entire book from cover to cover. Staying in my room all alone in complete silence, it strangely felt like one of the nights when I was a little tipsy and got very relaxed. In moments like this, I can finally see things that I have overlooked, things that have always been there. It is a weak beam of light seeping through a gap, only those who were lured to stop can see what is behind the gap. There are many other things to be experienced.

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就像「在沒有解釋的地方,嘗試去體會另一個人沒有說出來的那句話。」—— 梁秉鈞(也斯)詩集《東西》

“In a place where no explanation is given, try to learn the meaning of the word the other person has yet spoken.” East West Matters by Leung Ping-kwan (Yesi).

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