ANTI COPY

2011-07-21

Annie Leibovitz At Work:鏡頭裡的人生

非常汗顏地承認,雖然架上攝影書不少,但都是以攝影「技術」為主軸,當代攝影大師,叫得出名號的,寥寥可數,就更別提深入鑽研其作品了⋯之前花了一些時間閒逛溫哥華這兒的書店,因緣際會之下,發現了美國著名女攝影師安妮萊博維茨(Annie Leibovitz)的著作「ANNIE LEIBOVITZ AT WORK」。心想,與其閱讀評論家解讀大師的作品,不如拜閱他們的自傳更直接吧!

 shot by Marc Silber, Annie Leibovitz, 2008 
無論你是否熟悉 Annie的名字,你一定看過她的名人照!而2008年出版的「ANNIE LEIBOVITZ AT WORK」這本書,可說是 Annie 親筆傳記,以平易近人的口吻,有條不紊地描述自己成為專業攝影師以來,將近四十年歲月的心路歷程!我很訝異,這位被喻為二十世紀末最具影響力的女性攝影師,當她在描寫自己每幅作品背後的故事時,是這麼地真實而令人激賞!

Annie 出道極早,二十歲時即加入 Rolling Stone,並於1975年隨著樂隊巡迴全美。Annie 回憶,在那次樂隊巡迴中,因為天天與團員們和在一起,拍下了數以百計的精彩照片;但當她多年後重新整理此行的照片時,回首從前,卻覺得那些數以百計的照片,其實都在述說一個故事,一個關於她自己因為與團員密不可分,而幾乎失去自我的這個故事,還好手邊的相機解救了她,也提醒了她「我是誰,我為何在此,而將我自己跟被拍攝者分開」(註一)

Annie也提到,拍攝人像前,她總會作些準備工作,以瞭解被拍攝者,假如主角是舞者或是音樂人,她會先觀賞他的舞蹈、聆聽他的唱片,並以這些元素作為當天拍攝題材的出發點,同時,越簡單的元素及概念越好(註二)!但是她後來也察覺出,有些主題,例如舞蹈本身,它是一門空間藝術,欣賞得到,卻沒辦法用相機捕捉下來(註三)

 Shot by Annie Leibovitz, Bette Midler, New York City, 1979
Annie 拍過的名人,不計其數,囊括舞者、影星、運動員、政治家等,最有名的,應該是英國女皇的御照;最具爭議的,莫過於黛咪摩爾的孕婦照了。有趣的是,在這本書中,Annie 一點也不避諱地評論起自己的作品來了,完全反映出她真實又可愛的一面。例如1979年拍攝貝蒂米勒(Bette Midler)這幅作品時,想法非常簡單,是因應當時即將上映的電影「歌聲淚痕」The Rose 而拍攝的封面照,但她現在回頭檢視這張照片,只覺當時拍得真有點粗糙,貝蒂的姿勢不僅不自然,臉部光線也過暗,而為拍攝所準備的玫瑰花,買來後忘了去刺,直到開拍前一個小時左右才想起,連忙動手,幸好趕在貝蒂抵達攝影棚前一刻準備就緒,沒有開天窗(註四)黛咪摩爾的孕婦照,是一幅能吸引讀者購買雜誌封面照,卻不是一幅好的攝影作品(註五)

能夠如此坦然面對自己,是 Annie 最棒的人格特質之一!

shot by Annie Leibovitz, Marilyn Leibovitz, New York, 1997
你知道在她所有作品當中,Annie自己最喜歡哪一張嗎?書中提到,儘管她的許多照片都經過精細的安排,但她寧可在最自然的環境中拍攝(註六)。左邊這張照片,是1997年某個夏日午后,Annie 在自家附近草坪的陰涼處擺張椅子,請她媽媽坐下,替她拍攝的。直接、坦率的面容,讓她成為 Annie最喜歡的照片(註七)

除了心路歷程,Annie 也無所保留,侃侃而談器材!我本身的閱讀速度很慢,加上Annie 許多獨到的見解,常常是藏在故事某個角落簡簡單單的一句話,因此,我刻意慢讀,深怕遺漏任何一個重點!

Annie 敏銳的觀察力,讓她的攝影作品與眾不同;持續的自我成長,讓她成為攝影界最有影響力的人物之一!她在書中提到,「The camera gave you a license to go out alone into the world with a purpose.」(註八),所以,讓我們不要忘記自己攝影的初衷,勇闖世界吧!


註一:「ANNIE LEIBOVITZ AT WORK」,第42頁
For me, the story about the pictures is about almost losing myself, and coming back, and what it means to be deeply involved in a subject.  The thing that saved me was that I had my camera by my side.  It was there to remind me who I was and what I did.  It separated me from them.

註二:「ANNIE LEIBOVITZ AT WORK」,第55頁
If I were preparing to photograph a dancer, I would watch him dance.  I would listen to the musician's record.  Somewhere in the raw material was the nucleus of what the picture would become.  It didn't have to be a big idea.  It could be simple.  There's a case to be made that the simpler the idea the better.

註三:「ANNIE LEIBOVITZ AT WORK」,第87頁
I began to understand that dance can't be photographed.  Or even filmed, for that matter.  It is an art that lives in the air.

註四:「ANNIE LEIBOVITZ AT WORK」,第58頁
..., although when I look at the picture now, it seems a little rough in terms of execution.  She's underlit, and her body is at an awkward angle.  We were winging it then.  We hadn't thought about de-thorning the roses until an hour or so before Bette arrived, and we barely got them all clipped off in time.

註五:「ANNIE LEIBOVITZ AT WORK」,第93頁
..., but I don't think it's a good photograph per se.  It's a magazine cover.... There are different criteria for magazine covers.  They're simple.

註六:「ANNIE LEIBOVITZ AT WORK」,第158頁
As much as I love pictures that have been set up, and as important as those pictures are to me, I'd rather photograph something that occurs on its own.  The tension between those two kinds of photographs is at the heart of what I do.

註七:「ANNIE LEIBOVITZ AT WORK」,第166頁
I have often said that I don't have a favorite picture, although, as time passes, that portrait of my mother means more and more to me.  It's probably my favorite picture.  It's honest.  My mother is looking at me as if the camera were not there.

註八:「ANNIE LEIBOVITZ AT WORK」,第13頁

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