Becci Manson: (Re)touching lives through photos

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Kang Rong SUN 校对人员: Yuguo Zhang

Before March, 2011, I was a photographic retoucher

2011年3月之前，我是摄影修片师，

based in New York City.

常驻纽约市。

We're pale, gray creatures.

我们苍白无力、面如死灰。

We hide in dark, windowless rooms,

我们总呆在漆黑一片、不见天日的屋子里，工作室没有窗，

and generally avoid sunlight.

主要是为了抵御阳光。

We make skinny models skinnier, perfect skin more perfect,

我们帮苗条的模特变得更苗条，把完美的肌肤修缮得更无懈可击，

and the impossible possible,

把不可能的事变成了可能，

and we get criticized in the press all the time,

我们一直被媒体批判，

but some of us are actually talented artists

但是我们其实是才华横溢的艺术家，

with years of experience

经验丰富，

and a real appreciation for images and photography.

懂得欣赏图片和照片。

On March 11, 2011, I watched from home, as the rest

2011年3月11日，正如全球其他人一样，我在家里看到

of the world did, as the tragic events unfolded in Japan.

日本上演的悲剧。

Soon after, an organization I volunteer with,

不久之后，我参加做志愿者的一个组织

All Hands Volunteers, were on the ground, within days,

“携手志愿者”团队马上就赶赴了现场，仅仅在几天之内，

working as part of the response efforts.

在当地开展应急救援活动。

I, along with hundreds of other volunteers,

我和其他百余名志愿者

knew we couldn't just sit at home,

都深知：我们不能在家干等着。

so I decided to join them for three weeks.

因此我也决定加入他们的行列，做3周志愿救援活动。

On May the 13th, I made my way to the town of Ōfunato.

5月13日，我来到日本大船渡县，

It's a small fishing town in Iwate Prefecture,

那是日本岩手县的一个小渔村，

about 50,000 people,

人口大约只有5万人，

one of the first that was hit by the wave.

是当时第一波受灾的地方。

The waters here have been recorded at reaching

当时的海啸洪峰最高时刻

over 24 meters in height,

高达逾24米，

and traveled over two miles inland.

冲击到内陆足足有2英里的地方。

As you can imagine, the town had been devastated.

你可以想象，这个小镇肯定备受摧残。

We pulled debris from canals and ditches.

我们拨开运河和水沟里的瓦砾，

We cleaned schools. We de-mudded and gutted homes

我们帮助学校和那些被埋没的房屋打扫、清理，

ready for renovation and rehabilitation.

以便重建、翻新。

We cleared tons and tons of stinking, rotting fish carcasses

我们清理了大量的发臭、腐烂的鱼尸骨，

from the local fish processing plant.

那些鱼都是当地工厂里加工、处理的鱼。

We got dirty, and we loved it.

我们自己也变得又脏又臭，但是我们心里很舒坦。

For weeks, all the volunteers and locals alike

一连几周，所有的志愿者和当地居民一样，

had been finding similar things.

都找到了一些类似的东西。

They'd been finding photos and photo albums

他们不断地发现照片、相册、

and cameras and SD cards.

相机和SD储存卡。

And everyone was doing the same.

每个人对此的反应和行动也如出一辙。

They were collecting them up, and handing them in to

他们把这些照片等东西收集起来，把它们送往

various places around the different towns for safekeeping.

各个镇里进行保管。

Now, it wasn't until this point that I realized

直至现在，我才意识到，

that these photos were such a huge part

丢失了这些照片肯定是

of the personal loss these people had felt.

这些人失去的一块重大部分。

As they had run from the wave, and for their lives,

当他们遭受海啸袭击之时，可想而知，必然四处奔波，寻求一线生机，

absolutely everything they had,

自然把其他东西，

everything had to be left behind.

他们的所有东西都抛诸脑后。

At the end of my first week there, I found myself

我呆在日本的第一周的最后几天，我发现自己

helping out in an evacuation center in the town.

在帮该镇的一个疏散中心，

I was helping clean the onsen, the communal onsen,

帮助一个公社温泉清扫

the huge giant bathtubs.

社里的巨大浴盆。

This happened to also be a place in the town where

刚好当地

the evacuation center was collecting the photos.

的疏散中心正在收集人们丢失的照片，

This is where people were handing them in,

人们把收集到的照片送到那个公社温泉，

and I was honored that day that they actually trusted me

当时我十分有幸得到了他们的信任，

to help them start hand-cleaning them.

让我开始清洗、还原那些照片。

Now, it was emotional and it was inspiring,

那些时刻令人触动，也非常有激励意义，

and I've always heard about thinking outside the box,

我一直听人们说：要有创意！

but it wasn't until I had actually gotten outside of my box

直到那时清理那些照片，我才真的做到了

that something happened.

所谓的“创新”。

As I looked through the photos, there were some

当我翻看那些照片时，有些

were over a hundred years old,

甚至有逾百年的历史，

some still in the envelope from the processing lab,

有些仍被保存在加工实验室的信封里，

I couldn't help but think as a retoucher

我不禁从一个修图师的角度思考，

that I could fix that tear and mend that scratch,

或许我可以帮他们修复这些被撕破和被划痕的照片，

and I knew hundreds of people who could do the same.

而且我也认识很多会修图的人可以帮他们复原这些照片。

So that evening, I just reached out on Facebook

所以，当天傍晚，我就登陆脸谱网(Facebook)

and asked a few of them, and by morning

问了一些修图师朋友，还没到第二天早上，

the response had been so overwhelming and so positive,

就有很多很多回复消息，说他们乐意帮忙，

I knew we had to give it a go.

我知道我们应该行动起来，

So we started retouching photos.

于是我们就开始了修图行动。

This was the very first.

这是初次尝试（的一张照片）。

Not terribly damaged, but where the water had caused

还不算毁坏得太严重，但是被水浸没的地方

that discoloration on the girl's face

导致照片中小女孩的脸掉色了，

had to be repaired with such accuracy and delicacy.

我们不得不精心修复，做到十分精确，

Otherwise, that little girl isn't going to look

否则，小女孩的脸就不会

like that little girl anymore, and surely that's as tragic

看上去像她的脸了——那多悲剧啊，

as having the photo damaged.

就跟毁了照片一样。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Over time, more photos came in, thankfully,

随着时间推移，越来越多需要修复的照片被运送过来，

and more retouchers were needed,

我们也需要更多修图师来帮忙处理这些照片，

and so I reached out again on Facebook and LinkedIn,

于是我又登陆脸谱网(Facebook)和职业链接网站(LinkedIn)寻求帮助，

and within five days, 80 people wanted to help

仅仅5天，就有80位修图师表示愿意来帮忙，

from 12 different countries.

他们来自12个不同的国家。

Within two weeks, I had 150 people

两周内，我共得到150位志愿者的答复，

wanting to join in.

他们表示愿意加入我们的行列。

Within Japan, by July, we'd branched out

截至七月，仅在日本境内，我们就设立了多处分支

to the neighboring town of Rikuzentakata,

有的在就近的陸前高田市，

further north to a town called Yamada.

有的分支北至茨城县。

Once a week, we would set up our scanning equipment

每周，我们都在

in the temporary photo libraries that had been set up,

临时照相馆里架起扫描设备，

where people were reclaiming their photos.

人们前来这些临时照相馆领回他们的照片。

The older ladies sometimes hadn't seen a scanner before,

有时候，一些年长的女士从未见过扫描仪，

but within 10 minutes of them finding their lost photo,

待她们找到自己遗失的照片后，在十分钟内，

they could give it to us, have it scanned,

她们可以把照片给我们进行扫描，

uploaded to a cloud server, it would be downloaded

然后上传至云端服务器，之后上传的照片

by a gaijin, a stranger,

可能会被一个非日本人、或陌生人下载，

somewhere on the other side of the globe,

他们可能来自地球的另一端，

and it'd start being fixed.

那时照片就开始被修复。

The time it took, however, to get it back

然而，那时，他们再要拿回这些照片所需花的时间

is a completely different story,

就截然不同了，

and it depended obviously on the damage involved.

当然，这取决于受损程度，

It could take an hour. It could take weeks.

可能一小时就能修复好，也可能需要长达几周，

It could take months.

甚至几个月。

The kimono in this shot pretty much had to be hand-drawn,

照片中美丽的和服必须通过手绘处理，

or pieced together, picking out the remaining parts of color

或者一点一点拼接而成，再配上掉了的颜色，

and detail that the water hadn't damaged.

把那些没有被水冲坏的地方进行细节处理。

It was very time-consuming.

整个过程非常费时。

Now, all these photos had been damaged by water,

所有这些受海啸影响的照片，

submerged in salt water, covered in bacteria,

在盐水（咸咸的海水）里浸泡，受细菌侵蚀，

in sewage, sometimes even in oil, all of which over time

又埋没在垃圾里，有时甚至被油污浸染，所有这些

is going to continue to damage them,

经过一段时间都会持续破坏这些照片，

so hand-cleaning them was a huge part of the project.

因此手工清洗照片是这个项目的一个重大组成部分。

We couldn't retouch the photo unless it was cleaned,

而如果这些照片不先清洗干净，我们也无法开展修复，

dry and reclaimed.

修复前，它们还必须进行干燥，认领完毕。

Now, we were lucky with our hand-cleaning.

我们的手工清洗活动非常顺利，

We had an amazing local woman who guided us.

当地有一位女士指导我们清洗，

It's very easy to do more damage to those damaged photos.

这些照片很容易再次受损，

As my team leader Wynne once said,

正如我的队长维恩曾说，

it's like doing a tattoo on someone.

这就像在对人进行纹身一样。

You don't get a chance to mess it up.

你不能有任何闪失，否则结果将一团糟。

The lady who brought us these photos was lucky,

那位给我们这些照片的女士非常幸运，

as far as the photos go.

就这些照片而言，

She had started hand-cleaning them herself and stopped

她也开始自己亲手清洗照片，直到

when she realized she was doing more damage.

她意识到她自己清洗其实对照片造成了更多损害。

She also had duplicates.

好在她有照片的备份，

Areas like her husband and her face, which otherwise

否则，照片里，她和她先生的脸部

would have been completely impossible to fix,

就无法完全修复了。

we could just put them together in one good photo,

我们也因此得以把所有部分整合到一张好的相片里，

and remake the whole photo.

然后重新制作这张照片。

When she collected the photos from us,

当她从我们这里接过照片的时候，

she shared a bit of her story with us.

她跟我们分享了一些照片背后的故事。

Her photos were found by her husband's colleagues

她的这些照片其实是由她丈夫的同事发现的，

at a local fire department in the debris

在当地的消防部队的瓦砾下发现的，

a long way from where the home had once stood,

那个地方其实离她家很远，

and they'd recognized him.

他们居然认出了他。

The day of the tsunami, he'd actually been in charge

海啸发生的当天，他正在负责

of making sure the tsunami gates were closed.

确保海啸防御大门处于关闭状态。

He had to go towards the water as the sirens sounded.

警报拉响的时候，他不得不冲向海啸最前线。

Her two little boys, not so little anymore, but her two boys

她的两个儿子，虽然已经不小了，

were both at school, separate schools.

还在在两个不同的学校上学，

One of them got caught up in the water.

其中一个孩子的学校被海啸冲击到了，

It took her a week to find them all again

她花了整整一周才找回失散的亲人，

and find out that they had all survived.

当时他们都死里逃生了。

The day I gave her the photos also happened to be

我们还给她复原照片的那天又恰好是

her youngest son's 14th birthday.

她小儿子的14岁生日！

For her, despite all of this, those photos

对她来说，尽管悲催的灾难和种种艰辛，那些照片

were the perfect gift back to him,

是给他儿子最好的礼物，

something he could look at again, something he remembered from before

这些照片让他可以重新翻阅，重拾记忆，

that wasn't still scarred from that day in March

那不再是三月的某一天给他留下的烙印，

when absolutely everything else in his life had changed

当他生活中的一切都发生了改变，

or been destroyed.

或者说其实是被摧毁了。

After six months in Japan,

在日本呆了6个月以后，

1,100 volunteers had passed through All Hands,

“携手志愿者”共有1,100名志愿者加入帮助日本救灾，

hundreds of whom had helped us hand-clean

其中几百名帮我们手工清洗

over 135,000 photographs,

超过13.5万张照片，

the large majority — (Applause) —

其中的大部分——（掌声）——

a large majority of which did actually find their home again,

其中大部分最终回到了失主手里，

importantly.

这一点也异常重要。

Over five hundred volunteers around the globe

全球超过500名志愿者

helped us get 90 families hundreds of photographs back,

帮我们找回了90个家庭的数百张照片，

fully restored and retouched.

这些照片全部被复原、修复。

During this time, we hadn't really spent more than

在这期间，我们没有为

about a thousand dollars in equipment and materials,

设备或材料花上千元美金，

most of which was printer inks.

大部分是用打印机墨水完成的。

We take photos constantly.

我们时常拍照。

A photo is a reminder of someone or something,

照片是一个提醒和留念，提醒我们一些人、一些事，

a place, a relationship, a loved one.

某个地方、某段感情、某个深爱的人。

They're our memory-keepers and our histories,

它们帮我们记录、保存回忆和我们的过去，

the last thing we would grab

照片是紧急时刻最容易被我们忽视的，

and the first thing you'd go back to look for.

但有时雨过天晴后我们第一个想找回来的东西。

That's all this project was about,

这就是这个项目的全部，

about restoring those little bits of humanity,

为了恢复人性中的一点小碎片，

giving someone that connection back.

挽回人们与过去的连接点，

When a photo like this can be returned to someone like this,

当这样一张照片重回它的主人身边，

it makes a huge difference

它将带来巨大的不同，

in the lives of the person receiving it.

为失主的生活带来很大的不一样。

The project's also made a big difference in the lives of the retouchers.

这个项目也为我们这些修图师带来了很大改变，

For some of them, it's given them a connection

对一些修图师，这段经历为他们建立了一些联系，

to something bigger, giving something back,

联系到一些更宏大的事情，例如回馈社会，

using their talents on something

施展他们的才能，

other than skinny models and perfect skin.

不仅仅用于苗条的模特，和拥有完美的肌肤的人。

I would like to conclude by reading an email

我想读给大家一封电子邮件作为结尾，

I got from one of them, Cindy,

我收到其中一封，来自辛迪，

the day I finally got back from Japan after six months.

是六个月之后我从日本回家的那天，

"As I worked, I couldn't help but think about the individuals

”当我在修复那些照片的时候，我不禁想到其中的每个人

and the stories represented in the images.

以及照片中传递的那些故事。

One in particular, a photo of women of all ages,

其中特别是一张，照了各个年龄阶段的女士，

from grandmother to little girl, gathered around a baby,

上至老奶奶，下至小女孩，围着一个小婴儿，

struck a chord, because a similar photo from my family,

这张照片颇为触动心弦，因为我家也有一张类似的照片，

my grandmother and mother, myself,

我的祖母、母亲和我，

and newborn daughter, hangs on our wall.

围着刚出生的女儿，这张照片挂在我家的墙上，

Across the globe, throughout the ages,

纵观全球，超越年龄界限，

our basic needs are just the same, aren't they?"

我们有一些最基本的需求亘古不变，不是吗？“

Thank you. (Applause)

谢谢各位！（掌声）

(Applause)

（掌声）