【分享】Editorial - Birth and Resurrection of Vee

前言

時尚與攝影，不僅僅只是一種外表上的表現，它也是一個藝術與內在的結合，

透過時尚、透過攝影，來表達出一個故事及所要反映的時事，往往穿透力會更強烈。

這次要分享的是攝影師 Matthew Hars 所帶來的攝影專題，

先前 Matthew Hars 也有為大家帶來一些紐約時裝週及巴黎時裝週的秀場報導，

這次則要和大家分享他所參與拍攝的時尚故事『Vee的誕生與復活』，

透過完整的服裝、妝髮、及攝影主題，表達出時尚圈的年齡歧視及同性平權的概念，

此議題近年在台灣很熱門，許多公眾人物及歌手也都透過自己的方式來發聲，

這次能有機會分享此專題，除了覺得這攝影概念很特別，也覺得這是個非常有意義的主題，且需要被看見，

所以話不多說，就直接進入故事內容及照片的部分囉。

故事簡介

這是關於一個男孩的葬禮、以及他復活變為一位女性的故事－女性是他的真實身份，一個他一直深藏在內心深處的身份，黑色與白色，象徵著他悲傷、自責、與痛苦的感受，然而，因他情感解放而產生的歡愉色彩及光線，卻也因此顯現。她（Mss Vee），現在已得到她真實的自我－那個上帝想要她成為的人。

故事靈感的一部分，來自於我的基督成長背景，在我成長的過程中，我總是認為上帝把我創造成一個不同於我自己的人，我踢足球、參加摔角，藉此來滿足我的家人、同輩、以及我的宗教信仰，這也創造了一個全新的我，一個世界及信仰想要我成為的「我」，然而，隨著時間的前進，我感覺到我為自己建起的高牆（那個偽裝而成的「我」）開始崩塌，這也使我逐漸轉變成現在的自己，我採取了全新的自我形式，因為我知道這才是上帝想要我成為的人，最後，我的父母接受了這個真實的我，而不是他們想使我成為的「我」，我的人生也從此完全改變。

此專題的文字表現，部分來自於我奮鬥過程中曾幫助很大的聖經詩篇，整個故事為同性平權而發聲，同時也試圖抵制年齡歧視：在時尚產業很普遍的問題。我們使用了前男模特兒 Douglas Keisler 及變裝皇后 Mss Vee，她象徵著男性變為女性的轉換，同時，我們也雇用了來自 Compass Model Management 的模特兒 Michelle。

我們在暴雨中拍攝了整整五個小時，並得同時確保上萬元的衣服及攝影照明器材的安全，這些情況也使得拍攝過程變得更具挑戰性。

This is the story of the funeral of a man, and his resurrection as a woman - his true identity, which he has kept deep within himself. His feelings of sorrow, remorse and pain are symbolized in black and white. However, jubilant color and light emerge, created by her feelings of liberation. She (Mss Vee) has now claimed her true self - the person that God intended her to be.

Part of my inspiration for this piece was my Christian upbringing. I grew up thinking that God had created me to be different than the person I felt I was. I played football and took part in wrestling to further myself from the person I knew I truly was. I did this to appease my parents, my peers, and my religion. This created a new identity, one that was crafted by what the world and my religion wanted me to be. Over time, I felt the the walls that I had put up - my pseudo-identity - begin to crumble. This began a gradual transformation that led me to become the person that I am today. I took a new form, and I know this is the person that God meant me to be. Eventually, my parents accepted me for who I was and not who they wanted me to be. My life completely changed.

The text in this editorial reflects, in part, Bible verses from the book of Psalms that were a great help during my struggle. The overall story speaks to LGBT equality, but it also attempts to counterattack ageism, which is a pervasive issue in the fashion industry. We used a former model (Douglas Keisler) in addition to the use of a drag queen (Mss Vee). She symbolized the transformation of the boy into a woman. We used one agency model, Michelle from Compass Model Management. We shot the entire 5-hour editorial in a rain storm, while keeping thousands of dollars of People's Revolution clothing and our lighting equipment safe. These circumstances made the shoot logistically challenging.