In 1996, I was commissioned by the Guggenheim Museum to execute a large body of work called "Uses of Evidence." It was a cube -- a very well large cube, at that. Each side had a window in order for the spectators to view the interior of the structure. The exterior of the structure was a collage of Africa and Africans as portrayed in the Western media and literature. A look through the windows revealed a sharp contrast: within the cubes are tranquil, civilized, domestic images of African family members, friends and Nigerian professionals, ranging from writers, poets, fashion designers, etc. The thing is, both the exterior and the interior images are quite true. But the images captured by Western media overwhelmingly depict Africans as basically primitive at best, or barely distinguishable from the African animals. Not much has changed, I'm afraid, since 1996, when I executed this work.
1996 年, 我接受 古根海姆博物馆的委任, 制作一个叫做 “证据的使用”的大型作品。 它是一个立方体—— 一个非常大的立方体。 每一面都设有窗户, 以便参观者看到内部的景象。 立方体的外观是西方媒体 及文学作品中所描绘的 非洲和非洲人的影像。 而窗户内则展现了 非洲截然不同的另一面: 立方体内部展现的是 安宁,文明的国内景象, 有非洲的家庭、 朋友、 尼日利亚专家, 他们当中有作家、 诗人、 时尚设计师等。 重点是: 外观与内部展现的景象都是事实。 但是西方媒体捕捉到的景象, 都在尽力把非洲人 过度丑化成原始人, 或只是能与非洲的动物 区分开的人类而已。 恐怕从 1996 年我创作这个作品至今, 这种情况仍旧没多大改观。
I began my professional photography practice in 1994, but my passion and enthusiasm for photography goes back to childhood, when my parents arranged for us to be photographed by a professional photographer on almost a monthly basis. It was also an opportunity for my siblings to dress up in our latest gear, made by our tailor. Later, when I was in boarding school, my friends and I bought Polaroid cameras, and then I began to experiment with self-portraiture, or what I would call "proto-selfie auto-portraits."
我从 1994 年开始从事专业摄影, 但我对摄影的热爱与激情 要追溯到童年时期, 那时我父母安排了 一个专业的摄影师 给我们拍照, 几乎每个月就要拍一次。 这也给了我和兄弟姐妹们一个机会, 去穿上裁缝为我们 最新缝制的衣服。 后来,我去了寄宿学校上学, 和朋友买了台宝丽来的相机, 那之后,我开始试验拍自画像, 而我更愿意称之为—— 自动拍摄一成不变的自画像。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
"Cover Girl 1994" was my first major work that was critically well received in the US and Europe and quite instantly became a part of the school anthologies at universities and colleges. With the "Cover Girl" series, I wanted to reimagine the magazine cover with imagery totally unexpected, yet profoundly reasonable. The "Cover Girl" series proposed a different way the African can be represented in a more complex manner.
“封面女郎1994” 是我的第一个主要作品, 它在美国和欧洲颇受欢迎, 并且立即被收录在了 各大学和学院的 作品选集中。 对于“封面女郎”系列, 我想用前所未有,但合情合理的意象, 来重新定位杂志封面。 “封面女郎”系列提出了 一个不同的方式, 更为灵活多样地展现非洲的人像。
Like "Cover Girl," the "Sartorial Anarchy" series is made up of self-portraits. It is an ongoing body of work, started in 2010. In each image, I married disparate costumes from widely diverse traditions, countries and time frames. And in mixing eras, cultures, I was able to bring harmony, as it were, to their similarly irreconcilable differences. These differences became a source of inspired artistic celebration.
跟“封面女郎”一样, “混乱服装”系列 也是由自画像组成。 这是一个从 2010 年 持续至今的作品集。 在不同的图片中, 我穿搭了风格迥异的服装, 取材于不同的传统文化与时代。 在把不同的地区 与文化融合为一体时, 我能够为它们之间 看似不可协调的差异中 带来一种和谐之感。 这些差异成为了深受启发的 艺术家的灵感源泉。
For example, in "Sartorial Anarchy #4," I mixed a boater hat, inspired by the traditional Eton-Oxford College Boat Race, with a green Afghan traditional coat and an American Boy Scout shirt -- a culture clash that works. In "Sartorial Anarchy #5," I wore a macaroni wig, inspired by eighteenth-century macaroni headgear from England. This was paired with a British Norfolk jacket, Yoruba Nigerian trousers, and, improbably, a South African Zulu fighting stick. All harmoniously coexist on one body. And with "Sartorial Anarchy," I began to invest more into the organization of my pictures. I also began to investigate the vast possibilities of color: its emotional values, psychological impulse, poetic allure and a boundless capacity beyond the realm of meaning and logic.
比如: 在“混乱服装第4号作品”中, 受到牛津与伊顿之间的 传统划船比赛的启发,我把船帽 和绿色阿富汗传统外套, 以及一件美式童子军衬衫 混搭在了一起—— 这是一次效果不俗的文化碰撞。 在“混乱服装第5号作品”中, 我戴上了通心粉假发, 其灵感来源于18世纪 英国的通心粉发式。 与之搭配的是英国诺福克上衣, 约鲁巴尼日利亚裤, 还别出心裁的配上了 一根南非祖鲁格斗棍。 所有这一切都和谐的 共存于一体。 有了“混乱服装”之后, 我开始将设计重心转移到 如何组织我的图片。 我同样开始研究颜色广泛的可能性: 它可能带来的情感上的价值, 心理上的冲动, 诗意的暗示, 和它超越逻辑和 实际意义的无穷的能力。
Now, enter Nollywood. In October of 2014, I returned to Lagos, Nigeria, after over three decades away and took photographs of 64 Nollywood personalities. I captured a cross section of the industry, as well as the next generation of rising stars. Nollywood is the first time that you have a school of African filmmakers truly, truly, profoundly in charge of telling African stories. In their varied movies -- from romantic movies, horror films, gangster movies to action movies -- one sees Nigerians portrayed with many layers of complexities. All the Nigerian, or "Naija," archetypes, if you allow, are there -- from the divvers, the "Shakara," the coquette, the gangsters, the rich, the corrupt politicians, the whore, the pimp -- all in their swagger. And of course, you have the lowlifes and the losers, too, all vividly portrayed. Nollywood is Africa's mirror par excellence.
现在,说一说“诺莱坞”。 在2014年的10月, 我在结束了三十年的离别之后, 回到了尼日利亚的首都拉各斯, 并为64名“诺莱坞”的 名人拍摄了照片。 我捕捉到了这个产业 代表性的一部分, 以及下一代的新星。 “诺莱坞”是你能在非洲看到的 首个制片人学校, 真实的,深谋远虑的担负着 将非洲的故事告诉世人这一使命。 在他们各种各样的电影中—— 从爱情片,恐怖片, 警匪片,到动作片—— 人们可以看见对尼日利亚的 多层次复杂情况的描绘。 所有尼日利亚的,或者叫 “尼加”的文化原貌,都将在这里呈现—— 不论是傻子,炫耀之人,贵妇, 还是歹徒,富人,受贿的政治家, 妓女,皮条客—— 都能被扮演得活灵活现。 当然,你同样也能看到 社会底层的人和失败者, 他们都被生动的刻画了出来。 “诺莱坞”是完美地 映衬出非洲的一面镜子。
Typically, I direct all of my portraits, from the way my subject conducts his or her head, the way the neck is tilted, the expression of the fingers, the gestures of the hands, to the gaze and overall bearing and countenance. Let me describe some of the photographs for you.
一如既往,我指导了 所有的肖像作品, 包括这些主人公头部的位置, 脖子的倾斜程度, 手指的表现形式, 手的姿势, 到凝视的目光, 以及所有的举止和表情。 我来描述一下其中的几张照片。
Genevieve Nnaji. She is the reigning queen of Nollywood. Here, I was quoting from the grand, Pharaonic African cultures of the Nile Valley civilizations; namely, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, so as to imbue her with a stately, ironic, calm grandeur.
吉纳维芙 · 纳吉, 统治着“诺莱坞”的女王。 在这里,我借鉴了 来自尼罗河流域文明的 宏伟的非洲法老文化, 包括了埃及,苏丹和埃塞俄比亚, 以此来赋予她高贵, 冷漠和平静的庄严。
Taiwo Ajai-Lycett is the grande dame of Nollywood. Every aspect of her being commands attention. So I posed her with her back to the audience. Her face turned to meet us with a redoubtable gaze. She doesn't need to seek our approval. She's all that.
蒂亚 · 奥阿杰-莱赛特 是“诺莱坞”的贵妇人, 她的每一面都令人为之侧目。 所以我将她的背部展现给观众。 她的脸转向我们, 凝视的目光令人敬畏。 她不需要得到我们的认可, 她就是如此出众!
Sadiq Daba. There was an unspoken authoritarian and imperial bearing that Sadiq Daba exudes upon meeting him. In this portrait, he simply sat and allowed his massive, massive Nigerian caftan to signal his status. Quite an accomplishment.
萨迪克 · 达巴。 当你见到他时,会发现他身上自然而然 流露出的独裁和专断。 在这幅肖像中,他仅仅是坐着, 让他无比宽大的尼日利亚长袍 来彰显他的地位。 多么令人仰慕的威严!
Belinda Effah. Belinda Effah's portrait allowed me to indulge my passion for color, dressed in a long, fitted blue dress that emphasizes her curves, seated on an upholstered green velvet bench. I gamely employed the multicolored carpet and a vibrant color, in order to evoke the splendor of the multicolored painted bunting bird. Everything was designed to harmonize the figure of Belinda within the frame.
贝琳达 · 艾法赫, 她的肖像让我能 纵情于我对于色彩的狂热, 穿上一件长而得体的, 凸显她曲线的蓝色连衣裙。 坐在垫上绿色天鹅绒的长凳上, 我大胆地运用了五彩的地毯 和活力十足的颜色, 让人联想起色彩绚丽的 丽彩鹀所带来的光辉。 一切都是为了将贝琳达的 体态和谐的融入画面中。
Monalisa Chinda is, shall we say, the epitome of the luxe existence and lifestyle. Her picture, or portrait, pretty much speaks for itself.
莫那里萨 · 琦达,或者说—— 奢华的存在和生活方式的缩影。 她的图片,或者肖像, 完美的表达了这一切。
Alexx Ekubo is a sharp study in simplified elegance and dignity and a harmony in blue and white, as well.
亚历克斯 · 埃库博 是一个突出的例子, 包含了精简的优雅和庄严, 还有蓝与白的和谐。
Enyinna Nwigwe is a Nollywood matinee idol. There is whiff of the rake about him, and that gives him an enchanting edge. That's what I felt when I designed and organized the portrait.
恩那 · 尼格韦是一位 日场的“诺莱坞”偶像, 他身上有一丝放荡不羁的气息, 这带给了他迷人的光环。 这些就是我在设计和组织 肖像照时所感受到的。
Now, Nollywood is a new phase of Africa. It is modern, post-modern, meta-modern, bold sexy, shrewd and with a contagious attitude worth catching. As the finale of the project, I assembled the Nollywood stars into a group grand portrait of 64 subjects, called "The School of Nollywood," which was inspired by Rafael's "School of Athens," that was done circa 1509. It is at the Vatican. This grand group portrait is the exact same size as Rafael's "School of Athens." It measures roughly 27 feet in width by six and a half feet in height.
“诺莱坞”是非洲新的阶段。 它代表着现代,后现代, 超现代,大胆的, 性感的,精明的, 还有值得注意的 极富感染力的态度。 在项目的最后, 我把“诺莱坞”的明星们 集合成了壮丽的64人群体肖像, 称之为“诺莱坞学院”。 这一想法是受到 拉斐尔“雅典学院”的启发, 那幅作品大约是1509年 在梵蒂冈完成的。 这幅壮丽的群体肖像, 尺寸与拉斐尔的“雅典学园”完全相同, 宽约27英尺, 高为6尺半。
Nollywood also exemplifies a type of modernity never before seen in Africa. Think of it: there has never been anything so ubiquitous with such iconic optics to come out of Africa since the Nile Valley civilizations of Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia. Outside of Nollywood, the image of Africa remains frozen in the old "National Geographic" mode and safari perspective. But as Africans continue to step and see themselves portrayed by Nollywood in their varied and fantastic complexities, they will, in turn, propagate and perpetuate the positive image of themselves. This is what Hollywood did and continues to do for the West.
“诺莱坞”同时诠释了 一种全新的现代感, 是非洲前所未有的。 试想一下: 自尼罗河流域文明以来的 埃及,苏丹,埃塞俄比亚, 还从未有过任何事物 像这般无处不在, 带着这样标志性的色彩, 走出非洲。 在“诺莱坞”之外的世界中, 非洲给人们的印象仍停留于 陈旧的“国家地理”模式, 或是一处野外旅行的地方。 但当非洲人持续进步, 看到他们自己被“诺莱坞” 用一种多样而令人狂热的精巧所描绘, 他们会变得愿意传播并坚持 他们自己的积极形象。 这是好莱坞一直以来 对西方文明的贡献。
As shocking as this may be, it is almost a taboo in the art world to show Africans in a modern framework -- that is to say, as polished, dry-cleaned, manicured, pedicured and coiffed.
尽管听起来可能令人震惊, 但这在艺术世界中 几乎是被禁忌的, 不应该用现代的框架 来衬托非洲人像—— 也就是说,不能出现 美化的,整洁的, 做过美甲和美发后的造型。
(Applause)
(掌声)
Part of my job is to keep beautifying Africa for the world, one portrait at a time.
我工作的一部分就是 每次用一幅肖像,不断为世界展现 更美的非洲。
Thank you.
谢谢!
(Applause)
(掌声)