Becci Manson: (Re)touching lives through photos

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

譯者: ChiaWei Liu 審譯者: Yuguo Zhang

Before March, 2011, I was a photographic retoucher

在2011年3月以前

based in New York City.

我是一位在紐約工作的修圖師

We're pale, gray creatures.

修圖師既蒼白又陰暗

We hide in dark, windowless rooms,

都躲在黑暗沒有窗戶的房間裡

and generally avoid sunlight.

而且我們總是對太陽避而不見

We make skinny models skinnier, perfect skin more perfect,

我們會把乾瘦的模特兒變得更瘦，完美的皮膚變得更精緻

and the impossible possible,

更可以化腐朽為神奇

and we get criticized in the press all the time,

雖然我們總是被媒體批評

but some of us are actually talented artists

但是有些修圖師真的是不折不扣的藝術家

with years of experience

他們擁有資歷

and a real appreciation for images and photography.

也有對照片和攝影的真實體會

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

在2011年3月11日，我和世界各地的人一樣

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

在家裡得知在日本發生的悲劇

Soon after, an organization I volunteer with,

不久之後，我參加的一個志工團體(All Hands Volunteers)

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

在幾天內就已經抵達日本

working as part of the response efforts.

在當地幫忙做災後處理了

I, along with hundreds of other volunteers,

跟其他的志工一樣

knew we couldn't just sit at home,

我知道我們不能只是袖手旁觀

so I decided to join them for three weeks.

所以我決定和他們一起努力三周

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

3月13日，我到了大船渡市

It's a small fishing town in Iwate Prefecture,

這是一個坐落在岩手縣內的小漁村

about 50,000 people,

人口數約為5萬人

one of the first that was hit by the wave.

這是其中一個被海嘯首當其衝的地方

The waters here have been recorded at reaching

據紀錄

over 24 meters in height,

當時海浪高達24公尺高

and traveled over two miles inland.

並且往內陸推進了兩英哩遠

As you can imagine, the town had been devastated.

就跟你想像的一樣，整個城鎮都毀了

We pulled debris from canals and ditches.

我們把下水道和溝槽都清乾淨

We cleaned schools. We de-mudded and gutted homes

整理校園，也把住家內外的泥濘都清除

ready for renovation and rehabilitation.

以便重新翻修整理和入住

We cleared tons and tons of stinking, rotting fish carcasses

在當地的魚產品加工廠裡

from the local fish processing plant.

我們清理了數以噸計的，噁心腐爛的死魚屍體

We got dirty, and we loved it.

我們弄得全身髒兮兮的，但我們也樂在其中

For weeks, all the volunteers and locals alike

有好幾個星期

had been finding similar things.

志工們和當地居民都在找類似的東西

They'd been finding photos and photo albums

他們都在找照片和相冊

and cameras and SD cards.

相機還有SD記憶卡

And everyone was doing the same.

所有人都在找那些東西

They were collecting them up, and handing them in to

他們把找到的相片收集起來

various places around the different towns for safekeeping.

再交到各個城鎮做保管

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

直到到這個時候

that these photos were such a huge part

我才發覺這些照片對這些人來說

of the personal loss these people had felt.

是多麼大的損失

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

他們逃命的時候

absolutely everything they had,

絕對是

everything had to be left behind.

絕對是沒有任何東西可以帶走的

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

在第一個禮拜的最後一天

helping out in an evacuation center in the town.

我正在一個疏散中心裡幫忙

I was helping clean the onsen, the communal onsen,

那是一座溫泉，公共的溫泉

the huge giant bathtubs.

就是一個很大的澡盆

This happened to also be a place in the town where

這個地方恰巧也是

the evacuation center was collecting the photos.

疏散中心收集照片的所在

This is where people were handing them in,

大家把照片交來這個地方

and I was honored that day that they actually trusted me

而我很榮幸能受他們信任

to help them start hand-cleaning them.

來手動清理這些照片

Now, it was emotional and it was inspiring,

接下來發生的事則有點來自衝動和靈感

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

我一直都知道要跳脫固有的框架

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

但是一直到我真的跳出來想一想

that something happened.

才體會到一些事情

As I looked through the photos, there were some

我看著這些照片

were over a hundred years old,

有些已經超過百年以上了

some still in the envelope from the processing lab,

有的還裝在袋子裡還沒沖印

I couldn't help but think as a retoucher

我不禁又變成一個修圖師

that I could fix that tear and mend that scratch,

心裡想我可以把這些破損和刮傷都整理好

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

而我也認識上百個也能這麼作的人

So that evening, I just reached out on Facebook

就在那晚，我在臉書上發聲

and asked a few of them, and by morning

隔天早上

the response had been so overwhelming and so positive,

看到大家的回應都是正面而且大快人心的

I knew we had to give it a go.

我就知道這勢在必行了

So we started retouching photos.

所以我們就開始拯救這些照片

This was the very first.

這張是第一張

Not terribly damaged, but where the water had caused

不是非常嚴重

that discoloration on the girl's face

但是女孩臉已經因為浸水而掉色了

had to be repaired with such accuracy and delicacy.

這需要絕對的精準與細心來完成修補

Otherwise, that little girl isn't going to look

否則，女孩的臉會變得更不像她

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

這樣的話

as having the photo damaged.

就跟照片毀了沒兩樣

(Applause)

(掌聲)

Over time, more photos came in, thankfully,

很棒的是，隨著時間過去

and more retouchers were needed,

更多的照片被送來，我們也需要更多的修圖師

and so I reached out again on Facebook and LinkedIn,

所以我又在一次的在臉書還有推特上發文

and within five days, 80 people wanted to help

5天之內，就有80個

from 12 different countries.

來自12個國家的人願意幫忙

Within two weeks, I had 150 people

兩周之內

wanting to join in.

更有150人要加入我們的行列

Within Japan, by July, we'd branched out

在日本，七月的時候

to the neighboring town of Rikuzentakata,

我們延伸觸角到鄰近的陸前高田市

further north to a town called Yamada.

還有更北的山田町

Once a week, we would set up our scanning equipment

我們每個禮拜都會在臨時的相片中心

in the temporary photo libraries that had been set up,

裝置掃描機

where people were reclaiming their photos.

人們可以在這裡認領他們的相片

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

有些老婦人甚至沒有看過掃描機

but within 10 minutes of them finding their lost photo,

但在他們找照片的10分鐘裡

they could give it to us, have it scanned,

我們就可以將照片

uploaded to a cloud server, it would be downloaded

掃描之後上傳到雲端系統

by a gaijin, a stranger,

然後就在地球的某個地方

somewhere on the other side of the globe,

某個外國人會把它下載下來

and it'd start being fixed.

然後開始修補照片

The time it took, however, to get it back

然而，把照片拿回來要花多長的時間

is a completely different story,

就是另一個故事了

and it depended obviously on the damage involved.

這跟照片受損的程度有關

It could take an hour. It could take weeks.

可能要一個小時，也可能要好幾周

It could take months.

甚至幾個月

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

這張照片的和服勢必要用手畫或是拼貼的方式

or pieced together, picking out the remaining parts of color

把沒有被水浸泡到的

and detail that the water hadn't damaged.

顏色和細部抓出來

It was very time-consuming.

這需要花非常久的時間來完成

Now, all these photos had been damaged by water,

這些相片都被海水浸泡過

submerged in salt water, covered in bacteria,

上面滿布細菌

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

有的在汙水裡甚至是油汙裡

is going to continue to damage them,

這些東西都會持續的傷害這些相片

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

所以手工清理占了這個計畫的很大一部分

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

在相片尚未清理弄乾或是認領以前

dry and reclaimed.

我們都無法動手修圖

Now, we were lucky with our hand-cleaning.

關於這點我們還滿幸運的

We had an amazing local woman who guided us.

有一位當地的婦女教導我們如何整理這些相片

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

只要一不小心就會把照片弄得更糟

As my team leader Wynne once said,

好比我的組長懷恩說過

it's like doing a tattoo on someone.

這就像是幫別人刺青一樣

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

你沒有半點失誤的機會

The lady who brought us these photos was lucky,

把這些相片帶過來的小姐

as far as the photos go.

跟她的相片一樣的幸運

She had started hand-cleaning them herself and stopped

她本來自己在清理這些相片

when she realized she was doing more damage.

但當她發現這只會更糟的時候就停手了

She also had duplicates.

她的照片裡還有疊影

Areas like her husband and her face, which otherwise

她與她先生的臉的區塊

would have been completely impossible to fix,

本來是不可能修復的

we could just put them together in one good photo,

但我們只要把它合併在一起

and remake the whole photo.

就能重新做出一張照片了

When she collected the photos from us,

她來取相片時

she shared a bit of her story with us.

也跟我們說了些她的故事

Her photos were found by her husband's colleagues

她的相片是她丈夫的同事

at a local fire department in the debris

在當地的消防隊的垃圾裡找到的

a long way from where the home had once stood,

跟她們家的距離可以說是非常遠

and they'd recognized him.

然而有他們認出她的丈夫

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

海嘯當天，他其實是要負責

of making sure the tsunami gates were closed.

確保水門都有關閉的

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

在警報響起時，他卻要往海邊去

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

她的兩個小孩，現在也不小了

were both at school, separate schools.

分別在不同的學校裡

One of them got caught up in the water.

其中一個被海水給困住了

It took her a week to find them all again

她花了一個禮拜才都找到他們兩個

and find out that they had all survived.

也才放下心中的大石頭

The day I gave her the photos also happened to be

我把相片交還給她的那天

her youngest son's 14th birthday.

也恰巧是他小兒子的14歲生日

For her, despite all of this, those photos

對她來說，儘管遇上海嘯

were the perfect gift back to him,

這些照片無疑是給兒子最好的生日禮物

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

這是一個他可以回憶的過去

that wasn't still scarred from that day in March

而不是只記得3月的那一天

when absolutely everything else in his life had changed

他生命裡所有的東西都變了

or been destroyed.

都被摧毀了

After six months in Japan,

在日本待了六個月後

1,100 volunteers had passed through All Hands,

有1,100個All Hands志工前來幫忙

hundreds of whom had helped us hand-clean

其中有數百個人一起手動清潔了

over 135,000 photographs,

超過135,000張相片

the large majority — (Applause) —

大部分-(掌聲)-

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

重要的是

importantly.

大部分的照片都回到了各個家庭裡

Over five hundred volunteers around the globe

有超過500位來自全球的志工

helped us get 90 families hundreds of photographs back,

幫忙找回和修復數以百計的相片

fully restored and retouched.

然後將它們發還到90個家庭的手中

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

在這段期間裡

about a thousand dollars in equipment and materials,

我們花在設備上的錢其實不超過1,000元

most of which was printer inks.

大部分都是花在買墨水

We take photos constantly.

人們一生都在拍照

A photo is a reminder of someone or something,

相片可以紀念一個人或一件事

a place, a relationship, a loved one.

一個地方、一段關係和你所愛的人

They're our memory-keepers and our histories,

相片就像是我們的記憶庫和歷史

the last thing we would grab

是人們逃走時最不可能帶走的

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

但卻是第一個要找回來的東西

That's all this project was about,

這就是這個志工計畫的重點

about restoring those little bits of humanity,

我們要找回那微妙的人性

giving someone that connection back.

然後將它與人們再度連接起來

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

當這樣的一張相片，能變成這樣

it makes a huge difference

對收到相片的人來說

in the lives of the person receiving it.

非常的有意義

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

這個計畫也給了修圖師們很大的生活體驗

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

對有些人來說

to something bigger, giving something back,

這個計畫讓他們與世界連結

using their talents on something

利用他們的技能來回饋社會

other than skinny models and perfect skin.

而不是只是瘦巴巴的模特兒和無瑕的皮膚

I would like to conclude by reading an email

我想要讀一封郵件來做個總結

I got from one of them, Cindy,

這是辛蒂，其中一個志工

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

在6個月之後，我回到家時寄給我的

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

"當我在幫忙時，我不禁想到照片裡的那些人

and the stories represented in the images.

還有照片裡所描述的故事

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

其中有一張是各個年齡層的女人

from grandmother to little girl, gathered around a baby,

從老太太到小女孩都有，圍著一個小嬰孩

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

這張相片讓我想起我的家人

my grandmother and mother, myself,

因為我們家牆上也掛著一幅相片

and newborn daughter, hangs on our wall.

裡頭有我祖母、媽媽、我還有一個新生的小孩

Across the globe, throughout the ages,

不論在世界何處，不論何時

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

我們最基本的需求都是一樣的，不是嗎"

Thank you. (Applause)

謝謝(掌聲)

(Applause)

(掌聲)