Mak Hin-yeung in Qiu Ying
(POLAROID, 4x5 inch, black and white, 1986)
In 1978, Qiu Ying Shi Kan (秋螢詩刊) was relaunched and published in poster format. It reappeared in 1985, this time as accordion-fold postcards. During this period, each issue of Qiu Ying Poetry Journal not only featured poetry but also highlighted the works of a selected artist. I believe this publication model subconsciously influenced how we later produced DISLOCATION (女那禾多), the photography journal, where each issue focused on two photographers, embodying the idea of a gallery on paper.
In the June 1986 issue, the 30th edition of Qiu Ying, we featured the sculptural works of Mak Hin-yeung (麥顯揚). At the time, the concept was somewhat challenging—we decided to photograph all seven of his works together in a single shot. When unfolded, the image stretched across the seven panels of the postcard. The poems were then printed in the spaces left between each sculpture. The tricky part was ensuring the layout was precise, as the placement of the sculptures required careful calculation. While it would have been much simpler to photograph each sculpture individually and print them on separate pages, that approach would have lost the immersive and cohesive effect we achieved.
It’s worth noting that this was, of course, before the era of desktop publishing. After taking the photograph, we created a large print to serve as the design template. Unfortunately, that photograph no longer exists—only this Polaroid remains.
[麥顯揚在秋螢]
1978年復刊，以海報形式出版的「秋螢詩刊」，及後又再在1985年復刊，以明信片的形式出現。在這個時期的「秋螢詩刊」都是除發表詩之外，每期均選介一個藝術家的作品。我相信這個發表模式，在潛意識影響了我們後來辦「女那禾多」攝影刊物的方式，每期以兩個攝影師為重點，恰似一個在紙上的畫廊。1986年6月號，「秋螢詩刊」第三十期，我們選介了麥顯揚的雕塑作品。當時的想法也有點挑戰性，把他的七件作品拍在一起拍攝一張照片。照片展開，就是明信片的七瓣。所發表的詩就刊在其間每頁雕塑作品所留下的空間。有其中的難度，就是要把空間計算準確。相對如果每頁單獨各拍一張照片放入，那就簡單得多，但也就失卻現在我們看到的，容入感及整體效果。要留意的是，當然還是一個非電腦排版的年代。照片拍成後，放了一張大照片作設計使用。如今那照片已不存，獨留下這張寶麗來。