楚喬的自拍像 Holly's Self-Portrait in 1983
(POLAROID, 4x5 inch, colour, 1983)
In 1983, the Hong Kong Arts Centre held an exhibition on artists' self-portraits, and both of us were invited to participate. The photographs were all standardized to 20x24 inches, with the organizers handling the lab work. The photographs from that exhibition are still preserved, though I haven’t been able to locate them at the moment. However, here is a Polaroid of Holly's photograph, originally taken as a test shot.
At the time, we were living on the second floor of an old building at 13 Prince Terrace. It was a traditional structure with a ceiling height of over 13 feet. It was because of our time living on Prince Terrace that we grew fond of the area, which later led to the establishment of our studio there. This studio was eventually transformed into OP Fotogallery, now a collective memory of contemporary photography in Hong Kong. Since the early 1980s, we had been scouting properties on Prince Terrace for a studio, and in 1991, we finally found a ground-floor residential unit, which we made substantial alterations to.
Holly's photograph was taken in the bedroom, using a 90mm focal length lens. It essentially reflects the original environment of that time, without any significant changes to the arrangement. At the bottom of the photograph is the French edition of ZOOM magazine. Much of our knowledge and perspective on photography was shaped by such publications. In the mirror, Holly is seen while pregnant with our daughter, Iris.
楚喬的自拍像1983
1983年，香港藝術中心辦了一個關於藝術家自拍像的展覽，我們兩人都是被𨘋請之列。照片統一為20x24吋，主辦單位已有照片製作的安排。我們兩人當時展覽的照片還保存著，不過一時未能找出。楚喬的照片，手頭卻存有一張當時測試用的寶麗來。那個時候，我們住在太子台13號2樓，一房舊式建築物，樓底高達13多呎。也是因為住在太子台，喜歡上了這環境，為我們後來在太子的影室埋下了伏筆。該影室也即是日後改動成為OP攝影畫廊，一項香港當代攝影的集體回憶。我們自80年代初，不斷留意太子台可適合作影室用途的物業，終於在1991年覓得一地面住宅單位，作了很大的改動。楚喬的照片拍於睡房，使用一枚90mm焦距的鏡頭。基本上是當時原來環境，無特別調動擺設。下方擺著的是法文版ZOOM攝影期刊。我們對攝影的知識及看法，便是從此等不同刊物成長開來。鏡中的楚喬，懷中即是小女兒思菱。