刚知道有这么一句话：爱看铁树开花的总比爱看大麦发芽的人多。网上一搜，还真有几个大同小异这么说的。

（但比喻总是跛脚的，比如有人接了一句：其实大麦发芽也没见过）

Jeff Wall对我来说是一记闷棍。

像看所有喜欢不喜欢的作者一样，我看图总是极偶然地东看到一张西看到一张。图和作者能不能正确对上是很成问题的。

一个黑人女人抱着孩子，边走边似乎喋喋不休地数落着身边的另一个孩子，他们在路上走来。这是不是Wall的？如果是的话，这就我认识的第一个Wall。

对我来说，Jeff Wall是这样的：端托盘的女人，背影。两个男人从矮树组成的栅栏钻出来。乱乱的起居室，母亲正要走过画面，男孩在看书。在闪光灯下街上两人擦肩而过。树林里好像有两个人。两男一女迎面走来。一个像是在撬门的人。一个清洁工在拖地。一个人在街上空手比划莱福枪。后院里树荫下一家三口。还有几乎所有的静物照。

我当然也知道他拍了其他，像是，阵亡士兵们在对话，纸满天飞，牛奶飞溅，画家在画手的标本，一群拖着行李箱的背影。后面一些，按我的口味，很一般啦。

Wall的画册历年不同版本的不少，MoMA一开展览，图书馆里的书全没了。以前没借，一是因为我看画册的习惯，不爱细看，二是怕浪费。他的画册，大都一半是文字，看插图似乎是介绍作品和名画的渊源关系，我不懂英文，所以会浪费。

等这一阵过了，借本画册来看看，到底有多少图是我说的Wall。

刚回家。在车上看到的一份《明报》，在某个闲杂版有一块文章《网上相簿创Flickr图文小说》。刚知道有个新词。

Flicktion。沃索夫斯基/Andrew Losowsky。lulu今年的Blooker Prize获得者。

Losowsky是编辑和记者。图片于他，可能还只是个文字的引信，或者专栏文章的概念题图而已。

但总会有更聪明的，会弄出点真能叫人惊讶的东西。所有初看平庸的玩意儿，都孕育着惊讶，而且现在更重要的是，真会让人看到。

在Google打“Flicktion”一字搜索，会发现网上有许多网民制作的Flicksion。作家与学者，纷纷紧随潮流，在创作小组、学术论文或课堂中用这个字形容根据照片写成的故事。

－明报

转几段表述得很好的文字。中国摄影在线论坛上来的，作者是理然。（我是先读二，再读二，然后才试着读三）

一
如果我们要给美下定义，我们应该用非是的方式：美不是知识（καλον το μη εστιν επιστημη）。 Continue Reading »

今天中午，一卷终于拍完；不知什么时候误按过，所以是31张。

抄来的。说是51年前美国人的谈话。

“I’ll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it’s going to be impossible to buy a week’s groceries for $20.”

“Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won’t be long before $ 2000 will only buy a used one.”

“If cigarettes keep going up in price, I’m going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous.”

“Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?”

“If they raise the minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.”

“When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we’d be better off leaving the car in the garage.”

“Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls.”

“I’m afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying ‘damn’ in ‘Gone With The Wind,’ it seems every new movie has either “hell” or “damn” in it.

“I read the other day where some scientist think it’s possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas .”

“Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn’t surprise me if someday they’ll be making more than the president.”

“I never thought I’d see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.”

“It’s too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet.”

“It won’t be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.”

“Marriage doesn’t mean a thing any more; those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat.”

“I’m just afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.”

“Thank goodness I won’t live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress.”

“The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.”

“There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend. It costs nearly $15 a night to stay in a hotel.”

“No one can afford to be sick any more; $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood.”

“If they think I’ll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it.”