(一)
(Mar 64) Ironically enough, my warmest childhood memory is related to the coldest winter. We always went to the woodhouse and spent sometime there. We would play all kinds of games and go out for snow sports. No pictures would be enough to encapsulate my cherished memory.
照片来自1964年5月,树林边的小木屋,冬季,一位母亲牵着木雪车,孩子低着头坐在雪车上,整张照片弥漫这蓝色的气息,温馨而芬芳。
“有趣的是,我最温暖的童年记忆都和严酷的冬季有关。我们常常去我们的小木屋,在那里度过一些美好时光。我们玩游戏,做雪上运动。似乎没有任何一张照片足以包含我最珍爱的童年记忆。”
(二)
(Mar 66) I believe, there is a photograph that every child has. It is a picture you never remember being taken. My picture was taken in the sidewalk of my childhood neighborhood. I feel so familiar with as if it has really happened, one afternoon, my mother tries to teach me to walk in her best clothes. Sometimes, I dreamed of the same photo, but the only difference is that the faces are blurred. It is another child, and another mother. I watched them so tenderly in my dream with a sense of satisfaction. I knew it is this picture that has stolen my childhood memory, changing a story into a nameless scene, a scene that every child remembers.
照片来自1966年3月。美式房屋的街道,一位母亲俯身牵着蹒跚学步的小女孩。照片颜色不均,有些泛黄,但其中母女间的温情丝毫不减当年。
“我相信,每个孩子都有一张同样的照片,但你一点儿也不记得照那张照片的具体情形。我的这张照片的场景设置在儿时的家门前小道上,一切都那么熟悉,仿佛这时刻曾经真切地存在过:某一个下午,我的母亲穿着她最漂亮的衣服,试图教我走路。有时候,我会梦见这张照片,只不过照片里的人物不同了,脸庞变得有些模糊,似乎是另一个孩子和另一位母亲。我深情款款地望着她们出神,心满意足。我知道这张照片偷走了我的童年记忆,把本属于我的故事变成了无声的场景,一片属于每个孩子的记忆。”
(三)
(Sep 68 ) When I was young, we often go to my grandma’s house for Christmas. Every year with the same happiness and the same joy, things seems to be as stable as what is recorded on the picture. The Christmas tree, the red candle, the delicious food… only different presents. Time seems to be slower and more stable at that age.
照片来自1968年9月,照片里的装饰和服饰都表明这是圣诞节的照片,但幻灯片上的时间赫然印着9月,大约是等了大半年,他们才把上一年的照片冲洗装帧好。多么有意思的“延时”艺术呀,不像数码照片,能精确到按下快门的那一分,那一秒。这一组有两张照片,祖母和她的朋友在餐桌边吃点心,孙子得到他的圣诞礼物,一顶橄榄球帽。
“我小的时候,我们常常去外婆家过圣诞节。每一年都是同样的欢乐与满足,似乎一切都都定格住了,像照片离得一样,不会改变。圣诞书,红蜡烛,美食......当然,每年的礼物都不同。那时日,时间过得慢且长。”
(四)
(Jan 68 ) I came across this box of slides one day when I rummage through my closet. It was there for quite many years. I don’t know what gets me into such a sentimental mood for old pictures, but I spent the whole afternoon looking at them and decided to convert them into digitals. I feel I won’t be able to sleep well if I don’t use means to preserve these valuable documents of my family history.
I was such a small but handsome boy. The girl (my cousin) was such a bully at the time. See how she twisted her hands in the picture. I hope it doesn’t hurt.
照片来自1968年1月,两个穿着睡衣的孩子并排站在碎花沙发前面,腼腆纯真。
“某天从衣柜里意外地发现了这盒幻灯片,它们大约已经在那儿呆了好多年了。不知道为什么,看着这些旧照片,自己忽然变得非常伤感。我花了一个下午的时间来一一整理并决定把它们都变成电子文件。我觉得若是我不想点办法把它们保存下来就没法睡好觉。这些是我最珍贵的家庭记忆。
我曾经那么年轻那么帅气,那时我的表妹老会欺负人。你看看她怎么掰着自己的手腕,但愿她不觉得疼。”
(五)
(June 69) When my auntie got married, it was the festival for the whole family.
I used to have this green statuette. It is one of the many things from the childhood that only exist in photos. I have no idea what becomes of it later. So does my memory fail when I try to recollect the ring and the sky blue striped dress I wore.
I used to have very unevenly teeth and big spacious smiles with those teeth, but they are also gone after my parents took me to the orthodontics. I smile big now, but not spacious.
When I look at this extremely dim picture in full darkness, I am always bewitched by the beams of lightness from the wall. It is the picture of the end. It is as if the picture itself is fading and something more real is emerging from the behind.
这组照片来自1969年6月,结婚典礼上的孩子捧着花和书;一个拿着绿色玩具的小女孩对着镜头微笑;几个孩子在玩抢板凳,幻灯片磨损出了两个细小的洞,光透过来。当我在完全黑暗的幻灯片教室里观看这些不知名的照片时,总是被两束光所吸引,似乎那刺眼的真实要从照片的背后涌出来,侵蚀掉任何关于过去的记忆。
“我姨结婚的时候是我们全家的节日。
“那时候,我有一个绿色的玩具小雕像,可惜它也变成了众多只存在于照片中的童年玩物之一。我完全不记得这小绿人后来怎么样了,又上哪儿去了。我同样对我戴着的戒指和那是穿着的天蓝条纹裙子毫无印象。
“那时候,我的牙齿非常不整齐,所以笑得很开,直到后来父母带我去了牙医校正。现在我依然会大笑,但是和那时候完全不同了。”
(六)
(Oct 90) I don’t know from what time I became really resistant to be taken picture of. I hated it when parents hailed at you, making you to stop and taking a picture of you with this and that. I used to turn my head around or make faces to the camera, so they would be annoyed.
Many years later as I travelled alone in various continents for photo assignments and there were simply no one to take pictures of me, I was to remember when we pulled over by the highway and discovered the direction to dead end.
这张照片来自1990年8月,一个孩子在高速公路的路牌边上站着,她的背影在阳光中熠熠生辉。
“不知道从何时开始,我变得非常反感拍照。我最讨厌爸爸妈妈在背后叫我停下来,让我和这个合影,又和那个合影。有时我会恶作剧,故意把头拧过去或者做鬼脸,惹他们生气。
“许多年后,我在世界各个大陆上旅行,去完成我的那些摄影项目,再也没有人会跟着我帮我拍照了。这时候,我常常想起某一天,我们在高速公路边上停下来,我去看路牌,路牌说,我们正在走向死路。”

























