重返真樸—邱錫麟人間攝影展
文／姜麗華
Return to Simplicity: Chiu Shi-Lin's World Photography
Text by JIANG Li-hua
藉著它，我想記錄、歌頌並留存質樸人性的光輝美好品質，以及人與人、人與土地之間的和諧關係與情誼。——邱錫麟
Through the lens, I want to record, maintain and celebrate the glory of simple human nature, the harmonious relationship between people, and the love shared between men and the land. -- by CHIU Shi-lin
邱錫麟1949年出生於宜蘭，平時喜好聆聽古典音樂，文學素養造詣佳。自1972年起，任職國中國文教師，雖不以攝影家自稱，卻為了專心攝影創作，1992年提前退休。摯愛攝影的他，背起相機和鏡頭，行腳遍及尼泊爾、緬甸、印度、西藏、中國等文明古國，以真樸之心與眼，拍攝未過度重視物質享受或是未受工業社會污染的風土民情，捕捉是現實也是歷史的吉光片羽。近二十年來，他更以拍攝環繞美麗寶島—臺灣明媚之海濱風景，以大自然的美表達對生命的禮讚，呈現年屆七十「從心所欲不踰矩」的遼闊視野。尤其關懷身心障礙者的專題報導攝影，他多次探訪臺灣各地智障或眼盲的輔育中心，足跡深入各鄉鎮的角落，除了表現出他驚人的毅力之外，透過這些記錄人及土地的紀實攝影影像，也凸顯出他的親和力、慈悲心和美感之眼。
Chiu Shi-lin, born in Yilan in 1949, likes to listen to classical music and is knowledgeable about literature. He was a junior high school teacher of Chinese literature from 1972. He retired early in 1992 in order to focus on photography while he made no claim to be a photographer. Yet, full of passion for photography, he packed his camera and lens, and traveled to ancient countries such as Nepal, Myanmar, India, Tibet, and China. He captured scenes of folk culture and customs in places where materialism did not yet dominate life and societies untouched by heavy industrialism. His images are reflections of reality as well as precious records of history. In the past two decades, he has also photographed the beautiful coastline seascapes around Taiwan, expressing his praise of life through the beauty of nature. He has shared the broad vision of a seventy-year-old who “follows what his heart desire without transgressing what is right”. He has also focused on creating a visual testimony of the experiences of people with physical and mental disabilities. During his extensive travels throughout Taiwan, he made many visits to care centers for the mentally disabled or the visually-impaired. In addition to his amazing perseverance, his visual documentation of people and land also underlines his friendliness, compassion and esthetics.
邱錫麟認為「真樸」是一種生活，一種心境，更是一種智慧。他以直接攝影簡樸的手法，真誠且如實的記錄人世間所見所聞，進而透過影像傳輸他對人與土地的關懷。「重返真樸：邱錫麟人間攝影展」呈展他藉由相機的觀景窗探視尋訪人們真摯質樸的心，經由肖像或群像記錄各地民俗活動與宗教信仰、居家生活與基層勞動等景象，透過鏡頭歌頌並留存質樸的人性光輝，以及人與人、人與土地之間的人文關懷情誼。影像成為他類似語言表達的工具，得以陳述他對人的感覺、信念和期盼，透露他對人與人性的觀察、社會文化的關注，分享其文學哲思及美感經驗。
Chiu Shi-lin believes that “simplicity” is a way of life, a state of mind, and a kind of wisdom. With a simple and straightforward approach to photography, he faithfully and truthfully records what he sees and hears in the world, expressing his care for people and the land through the images. The exhibition, “Return to Simplicity: Chiu Shi-Lin’s World Photography”, demonstrates his endeavor to capture the simple life among people through his lens. In portraits or groups photos, he recorded the local folk activities and religious practices, the households and labor of the ordinary people. Through the lens, he has celebrated and maintained the glory of simple human nature to reveal the harmonious relationship between people and the love and care shared between them and the land. For him, images are tools, like a language of expression. Through images, he can convey his feelings, his beliefs and expectations of people. Photography is also able to communicate his thoughts about human nature, social culture, and his literary philosophy and aesthetic experience.
藉著宜蘭美術館策辦「重返真樸—邱錫麟人間攝影展」，讓我們重返邱錫麟近四十年來的攝影生涯，欣賞他以光圈和快門刻劃人們真摯質樸的心，這些人間攝影作品劃分成四大子題陳列：子題一、「人間有情」：以人文關懷之情，跨越國境記錄四個不同古國溫馨的民情、獨特的宗教文化與社會風俗；子題二、「人間有善」：以純真正直之善，記載華人文化的生活習性與淳樸民風；子題三、「人間有美」：以回歸心靈之美，擷取福爾摩沙臺灣多樣的地貌，造就風華絕色的海濱景觀；子題四、「人間有愛」：以民胞物與之愛，造訪臺灣各地的啟智、啟明或盲人福利中心，藉由圖像及文字表達弱勢者的心聲，試圖喚起社會大眾用心認識並接納協助身心障礙者。
Through the exhibition “Return to Simplicity: Chiu Shi-Lin’s World Photography”, organized by Yilan Museum of Art, we follow the path of Chiu’s long photography career and explore the pure and unpretentious mind of the people captured by aperture and shutter speed. The photographs are divided into four themes. First, in “Love in the World” Chiu Shi-Lin crossed borders to affectionately record the lives, culture and religious customs of four ancient countries. Second, in “Kindness in the World”, he documented, with honesty and kindness, the local life of Chinese culture and the simplicity of ordinary people. Third, in “Splendor in the World”, with a soul longing for beauty, he explored the diverse topography of Formosa Taiwan to create splendid coastal seascapes. Fourth, for the “Compassion in the World”, with unselective love embracing all mankind and the world, he visited schools of special education, schools for the visually impaired, and welfare centers for the blind throughout Taiwan. In image and text, he gave voice to underprivileged minorities to raise awareness about their plight and promote public acceptance and care.
我們透過觀賞「重返真樸」攝影影像，回顧邱錫麟四十餘載的人間攝影，感受他如沐春風與文質彬彬的人格特質，人生對他如同蔣勳的體悟「是一場從心所欲的大冒險」，在經歷無數回單槍匹馬的大探險之後，他已將攝影當作自己的生命信仰並堅信攝影不僅可以用來觀賞，亦能讓人細細閱讀、深思與品味。他一生追求以攝影作為影像語言，書寫內心感言，真率的與社會溝通對話，刻劃並歌頌人性中真摯與質樸的心，試圖泯除人類種族、宗教文化、社會階級等各種差異的成見，成為超越民族和國界的影像歡樂頌。經由這些思古幽情曖曖內含光的影像，讓觀者的心靈產生悸動，並啟動學習「重返真樸」的生活型態。
Going through the photographs of “Return to Simplicity: Chiu Shi-Lin’s World Photography”, we look back at more than four decades of Chiu’s career. We feel his gentle character like a spring breeze. His view to life echoes the words of Jiang Xun: “a great adventure following the desire of one’s heart”. After his return from many one-man adventures, he now regards photography as his belief in life. Indeed, he has strong faith in photography, for to him photography is more than a visual experience, it is a medium open for reading, contemplating and appreciation. Throughout his life, he pursued photography as a language of expression, a means to visually articulate his thoughts and communicate with society. He sought out and praised the true and simple mind of human nature, and endeavored to end racial, religious, and social prejudice. Thus, his photographs have become an “Ode to Joy”, transcending nations and boundaries. The images are like a gentle light from ancient times that grows ever stronger in the viewers’ mind and finally inspire them to return to a life of simplicity.