I was raised in Seoul, Korea, and moved to New York City in 1999 to attend college. I was pre-med at the time, and I thought I would become a surgeon because I was interested in anatomy and dissecting animals really piqued my curiosity. At the same time, I fell in love with New York City. I started to realize that I could look at the whole city as a living organism. I wanted to dissect it and look into its unseen layers. And the way to it, for me, was through artistic means. So, eventually I decided to pursue an MFA instead of an M.D. and in grad school I became interested in creatures that dwell in the hidden corners of the city.
我在韩国首尔长大 1999年来到纽约上大学 那个时候我还是一名医学预科生 我以为自己会成为外科医生 因为我一直对解剖着迷 肢解动物总能激发我的好奇心。 同时,我彻底爱上了纽约。 我渐渐地发现自己可以将这座城市 看作一个活生生的有机体。 我想要解剖它, 看看里面不为所知的切面, 而对于我来说,想要达到这样的目的, 就要通过艺术途径。 所以最终我决定念艺术硕士,放弃了医学。 读研究生的时候我开始对 那些藏在城市隐秘角落里的生物感兴趣。
In New York City, rats are part of commuters' daily lives. Most people ignore them or are frightened of them. But I took a liking to them because they dwell on the fringes of society. And even though they're used in labs to promote human lives, they're also considered pests. I also started looking around in the city and trying to photograph them. One day, in the subway, I was snapping pictures of the tracks hoping to catch a rat or two, and a man came up to me and said, "You can't take photographs here. The MTA will confiscate your camera." I was quite shocked by that, and thought to myself, "Well, OK then. I'll follow the rats." Then I started going into the tunnels, which made me realize that there's a whole new dimension to the city that I never saw before and most people don't get to see.
在纽约,老鼠几乎已经成了每日进出地铁站的人们的生活的一部人。 大多数人都无视它们,有些人害怕它们。 我倒挺喜欢它们的, 因为它们处于社会边缘, 尽管它们在实验室里是发展人类生活的道具, 但也时常被当作害虫。 我开始关心城市里的各个角落, 试着给它们留影。 有一天,我在地铁里拍摄铁轨, 希望能在镜头里捕捉到一两只老鼠, 一个男人走过来说, “你不能在这儿拍照, 捷运局会没收你的相机。” 我吓了一跳, 只能对自己说,“哎,好吧。 我跟着老鼠走好了。” 随后我就开始了自己的管道之旅, 一个全新的城市第一次展现在我的面前: 一个我从没见过,大部分人也不会见到的城市。
Around the same time, I met like-minded individuals who call themselves urban explorers, adventurers, spelunkers, guerrilla historians, etc. I was welcomed into this loose, Internet-based network of people who regularly explore urban ruins such as abandoned subway stations, tunnels, sewers, aqueducts, factories, hospitals, shipyards and so on.
当然,也有和我想法相似的人。 他们把自己称为城市探险者,冒险家,洞穴勘探者, 游击历史家等等。 在这个松散的,给予互联网的小团体里,我受到了人们的欢迎。 他们定期勘探城市废墟, 如废弃的地铁站, 地下管道,下水道,水渠, 工厂,医院,造船厂等等。
When I took photographs in these locations, I felt there was something missing in the pictures. Simply documenting these soon-to-be-demolished structures wasn't enough for me. So I wanted to create a fictional character or an animal that dwells in these underground spaces, and the simplest way to do it, at the time, was to model myself. I decided against clothing because I wanted the figure to be without any cultural implications or time-specific elements. I wanted a simple way to represent a living body inhabiting these decaying, derelict spaces.
我在这些地方拍照的时候 总觉得照片里缺了点什么。 仅仅简单地纪录这些将要被推倒的结构, 是不够的。 所以我想到创造一个虚构的角色, 或者是住在这些地下空间里的动物。 而在那个时候,最简单的方法, 就是我自己做模特。 我决定不包裹上自己, 因为我希望照片里的那个身影不带任何文化含义 或特定的时间因素。 我希望呈现最简单原始的人体, 在这些腐朽,被遗弃的空间中栖息。
This was taken in the Riviera Sugar Factory in Red Hook, Brooklyn. It's now an empty, six-acre lot waiting for a shopping mall right across from the new Ikea. I was very fond of this space because it's the first massive industrial complex I found on my own that is abandoned. When I first went in, I was scared, because I heard dogs barking and I thought they were guard dogs. But they happened to be wild dogs living there, and it was right by the water, so there were swans and ducks swimming around and trees growing everywhere and bees nesting in the sugar barrels.
这是在布鲁克林的红钩子地区的Riviera糖工厂拍摄的。 那是一个六英亩大的空厂 等待着被改造成新建的宜家商场对面的购物中心。 我非常喜欢这个地方 因为那是第一个我自己发现的被废弃的 大型工业综合设施。 第一次迈进那里,我被吓了一条, 因为我听到犬吠,还以为它们是看家狗。 不过还好它们只是附近的野狗。 那家工厂就在河边, 所以还有天鹅和野鸭在周围嬉戏畅游, 到处都是树 糖罐子现在成了蜂窝桶。
The nature had really reclaimed the whole complex. And, in a way, I wanted the human figure in the picture to become a part of that nature. When I got comfortable in the space, it also felt like a big playground. I would climb up the tanks and hop across exposed beams as if I went back in time and became a child again.
大自然彻底地重新占领了这整个地方。 某种程度上,我希望照片里的人类形象 可以成为大自然的一部分。 等我渐渐地融入了那个地方, 就觉得它更像是一个大操场。 我爬上那些大桶,在裸露的横梁间跳来跳去, 就像回到了小时候。
This was taken in the old Croton Aqueduct, which supplied fresh water to New York City for the first time. The construction began in 1837. It lasted about five years. It got abandoned when the new Croton Aqueducts opened in 1890. When you go into spaces like this, you're directly accessing the past, because they sit untouched for decades. I love feeling the aura of a space that has so much history. Instead of looking at reproductions of it at home, you're actually feeling the hand-laid bricks and shimmying up and down narrow cracks and getting wet and muddy and walking in a dark tunnel with a flashlight.
这张是在老Croton水渠拍的 那是第一条为纽约城提供自来水的管道。 1837年开始修建, 五年后建成。 在1890年新Croton水渠建成后就被遗弃了。 走入这样的空间, 就像是穿越空间回到过去, 因为它们在那儿几十年都无人问起。 我喜欢这些历史悠久的空间里弥漫的灵气。 与在坐在家里看复制品的感觉不同, 你真的能够触摸到那些手工制作的墙砖, 感觉到裂缝四周它们轻微的摇晃, 还会被水打湿,弄得满身是泥, 或是在黑漆漆的地下道里拎着电筒散步。
This is a tunnel underneath Riverside Park. It was built in the 1930s by Robert Moses. The murals were done by a graffiti artist to commemorate the hundreds of homeless people that got relocated from the tunnel in 1991 when the tunnel reopened for trains. Walking in this tunnel is very peaceful. There's nobody around you, and you hear the kids playing in the park above you, completely unaware of what's underneath.
这是Riverside公园下面的地下管道。 1930年由罗伯特·摩西斯指导建成。 这些壁画是一位涂鸦艺术家的作品, 用以纪念几百个在1991年 因为地道重新对火车开放而 被迫从地道迁走的流浪者。 在这条地下道散步非常安静。 四周空无一人, 甚至能听到孩子们就在上面的公园里嬉戏玩耍, 完全不知道还有地下的世界。
When I was going out a lot to these places, I was feeling a lot of anxiety and isolation because I was in a solitary phase in my life, and I decided to title my series "Naked City Spleen," which references Charles Baudelaire. "Naked City" is a nickname for New York, and "Spleen" embodies the melancholia and inertia that come from feeling alienated in an urban environment.
我去这些地方的时候 会感到扑面而来的忧虑和隔离感, 因为那段时间我总是形影单只, 于是我决定把我的系列命名为“恶之城”, 参照于波德莱尔。 “裸城”是纽约的昵称, “恶”则象征着忧郁和困顿, 被都市环境驱逐的感觉。
This is the same tunnel. You see the sunbeams coming from the ventilation ducts and the train approaching.
这是同一条地道, 你可以看到光线从通风管照射进来, 火车迎面驶来。
This is a tunnel that's abandoned in Hell's Kitchen. I was there alone, setting up, and a homeless man approached. I was basically intruding in his living space. I was really frightened at first, but I calmly explained to him that I was working on an art project and he didn't seem to mind and so I went ahead and put my camera on self-timer and ran back and forth. And when I was done, he actually offered me his shirt to wipe off my feet and kindly walked me out. It must have been a very unusual day for him. (Laughter)
这是电影《地狱厨房》里那条废弃的地下道。 我一个人在那里,为拍摄做准备。 一个流浪汉走近, 我基本上算是入侵了他的生活空间。 开始的时候我真的很害怕, 但我镇定下来向他解释我是在做一个艺术项目, 他完全不在意的样子, 所以我就继续工作,把相机设到自动拍摄模式, 然后来回地跑。 等我拍好,他还给了我他的衬衫 好让我把脚擦干净, 接着亲切地陪我走出去。 那对他来说可是不同寻常的一天啊! (笑)
One thing that struck me, after this incident, was that a space like that holds so many deleted memories of the city. That homeless man, to me, really represented an element of the unconscious of the city. He told me that he was abused above ground and was once in Riker's Island, and at last he found peace and quiet in that space. The tunnel was once built for the prosperity of the city, but is now a sanctuary for outcasts, who are completely forgotten in the average urban dweller's everyday life.
这件事情之后我得到的最大启示, 就是这样的空间承担着太多的城市被删除的记忆。 那个流浪汉,对我来说,真实地代表着 城市无意识的元素。 他告诉我在地上,他受到的各种伤害, 有一次是在瑞克岛上, 最后他总算在那个空间寻找到了自己的安静与和谐。 地下道曾经是城市繁荣的成果, 而现在却成为了被驱逐者们的避难所, 他们完全被城市寄居者的每日生活抛在脑后。
This is underneath my alma mater, Columbia University. The tunnels are famous for having been used during the development of the Manhattan Project. This particular tunnel is interesting because it shows the original foundations of Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, which was demolished in 1890 when Columbia moved in.
这一切就发生在我所在的学校底下,哥伦比亚大学。 这些地下道因其在曼哈顿项目的发展中 发挥的作用而闻名。 其中这条隧道尤其有趣。 它展现了布罗明达精神病院的原始地基。 1890年哥伦比亚大学搬进来的时候 精神病院就被拆除了。
This is the New York City Farm Colony, which was a poorhouse in Staten Island from the 1890s to the 1930s. Most of my photos are set in places that have been abandoned for decades, but this is an exception.
这是纽约城殖民农场, 它在1890年代到1930年代 是史丹顿岛上的一座救济院。 我的大多数摄影作品都是在这些 被遗弃了几十年的地方拍摄的, 但这属于一个例外。
This children's hospital was closed in 1997; it's located in Newark. When I was there three years ago, the windows were broken and the walls were peeling, but everything was left there as it was. You see the autopsy table, morgue trays, x-ray machines and even used utensils, which you see on the autopsy table.
这间儿童医院在1997年关闭, 它位于纽瓦克市。 三年前我在那里的时候 窗子都碎了,墙壁斑驳, 但那里的一切设施都还和原来一样。 你能看到解剖台,停尸台,X光机, 甚至用过的手术用具 还就摆在解剖台上。
After exploring recently-abandoned buildings, I felt that everything could fall into ruins very fast: your home, your office, a shopping mall, a church -- any man-made structures around you. I was reminded of how fragile our sense of security is and how vulnerable people truly are.
在探索了新近被遗弃的建筑之后, 我感到世间的一切都能顷刻间化为废墟, 你的家,你的办公室,一家百货中心,一座教堂...... 人和一座我们周围的人造建筑。 这让我想起我们的安全感是多么脆弱, 人类又是多么不堪一击。
I love to travel, and Berlin has become one of my favorite cities. It's full of history, and also full of underground bunkers and ruins from the war.
我爱旅行, 柏林是我最爱的旅游地之一。 它到处充满了历史, 地下碉堡, 以及战争留下的遗迹。
This was taken under a homeless asylum built in 1885 to house 1,100 people. I saw the structure while I was on the train, and I got off at the next station and met people there that gave me access to their catacomb-like basement, which was used for ammunition storage during the war and also, at some point, to hide groups of Jewish refugees. This is the actual catacombs in Paris. I explored there extensively in the off-limits areas and fell in love right away.
这是在一个一家庇护所的地底下拍的。 庇护所在1885年建成,能容纳1,100人。 我在火车上看到了这座建筑, 就立刻在下一站下车并请车站的人 为我指明了去他们那地下墓穴搬的地窖的路。 战争期间那里被作为武器储备库, 有的时候还藏着一批批犹太难民。 这是一座巴黎真的墓穴。 我粗略地浏览了一下那里 有限的空间, 并立刻就爱上了那儿。
There are more than 185 miles of tunnels, and only about a mile is open to the public as a museum. The first tunnels date back to 60 B.C. They were consistently dug as limestone quarries and by the 18th century, the caving-in of some of these quarries posed safety threats, so the government ordered reinforcing of the existing quarries and dug new observation tunnels in order to monitor and map the whole place.
那里有185英里多的隧道, 而其中只有大概一英里作为博物馆对公众开放。 最早建成的隧道可以追溯到公元前6年。 他们通常是被作为石灰石采石场的, 直到18世纪 因为一些采石场顶板坍塌造成了安全隐患 于是被政府强制要求加固剩下的采石场, 并且挖掘新的观测隧道 来监控并给这整个地方绘地图。
As you can see, the system is very complex and vast. It's very dangerous to get lost in there. And at the same time, there was a problem in the city with overflowing cemeteries. So the bones were moved from the cemeteries into the quarries, making them into the catacombs. The remains of over six million people are housed in there, some over 1,300 years old. This was taken under the Montparnasse Cemetery where most of the ossuaries are located. There are also phone cables that were used in the '50s and many bunkers from the World War II era.
你可以看到,这个系统非常庞大复杂。 总是有在里面走失的危险。 同时, 城市里还存在墓地过多的问题, 所以很多尸骨都被从墓地搬进这些采石洞, 使它们成了真正意义上的地下墓穴。 600多万人的遗骨都被移居到那里, 有些是驻扎了1,300年的老居民。 这是在蒙巴尔纳斯墓地的地下拍摄的 大多数的藏尸堂都在那儿。 那里还有50年代用的电话电缆, 以及许多二战时代的碉堡。
This is a German bunker. Nearby there's a French bunker, and the whole tunnel system is so complex that the two parties never met. The tunnels are famous for having been used by the Resistance, which Victor Hugo wrote about in "Les Miserables." And I saw a lot of graffiti from the 1800s, like this one.
这是一个德国碉堡, 附近还有一个法国碉堡, 正个隧道系统非常错综复杂, 两方面始终都没遇上过。 这些隧道因为成为地下抵抗组织的基地而闻名, 就像维克多·雨果在《悲惨世界》中写道的那样。 我还看到了1800年代的涂鸦,比如这个。
After exploring the underground of Paris, I decided to climb up, and I climbed a Gothic monument that's right in the middle of Paris. This is the Tower of Saint Jacques. It was built in the early 1500s. I don't recommend sitting on a gargoyle in the middle of January, naked. It was not very comfortable. (Laughter)
在发掘探索了巴黎的地下后 我决定向上爬, 与是我爬上了一座哥特纪念碑 它就坐落于巴黎中心。 这是圣雅克塔, 是在1500年代的早些时候建的。 我真的不推荐你在一月裸着身子坐在滴水嘴上, 那可不大舒服。
And all this time, I never saw a single rat in any of these places, until recently, when I was in the London sewers. This was probably the toughest place to explore. I had to wear a gas mask because of the toxic fumes -- I guess, except for in this picture. And when the tides of waste matter come in it sounds as if a whole storm is approaching you.
在这整个过程中 我一直老鼠也没看到, 直到最近我在伦敦逛下水道。 这可能是最难探索的地方了。 因为迎面而来的毒气,我必须得带上防毒面具 我猜除了在这张照片里。 当废弃物的大浪冲进来时, 就像一场剧烈的暴风雨朝你袭来。
This is a still from a film I worked on recently, called "Blind Door." I've become more interested in capturing movement and texture. And the 16mm black-and-white film gave a different feel to it.
这张景物照来自我最近做的一部影片,《盲门》。 我开始对捕捉动作和质地愈加感兴趣。 16毫米黑白胶卷带给照片一种不同寻常的氛围。
And this is the first theater project I worked on. I adapted and produced "A Dream Play" by August Strindberg. It was performed last September one time only in the Atlantic Avenue tunnel in Brooklyn, which is considered to be the oldest underground train tunnel in the world, built in 1844. I've been leaning towards more collaborative projects like these, lately. But whenever I get a chance I still work on my series.
这是我的第一个剧院项目。 我改编并制作了奥古斯特·史特林柏的《一场梦戏》 唯一一次表演是在去年九月, 在布鲁克林的亚特兰大大街隧道, 那里一直被认定为世界上最古老的火车隧道, 是1844年建的。 最近,我都倾向于这些合作性的项目。 但只要有机会,我还是会做自己的系列作品。
The last place I visited was the Mayan ruins of Copan, Honduras. This was taken inside an archaeological tunnel in the main temple.
上一个探索的地方是 洪都拉斯考潘市的玛雅遗迹。 这是在主庙的考古隧道里拍的。
I like doing more than just exploring these spaces. I feel an obligation to animate and humanize these spaces continually in order to preserve their memories in a creative way -- before they're lost forever. Thank you.
我不仅喜欢探索这些地方, 更觉得背负着不离不弃地给这些地方注入人性与活力的责任, 用一种创新的方式,在它们的记忆永远失落之前 将它们保存下来。 谢谢!