Chong Kok-yew, a student from Fu Jen Catholic University’s Department of Applied Arts, started to photograph Taiwanese centenarians at the end of last year. A black and white picture of a centenarian sitting alone under a picture of his deceased wife made him stand out among professional photographers. That photograph won the Taiwan Press Photo Contest’s third prize in the portraiture category.
There were 122 contestants in the contest this year, submitting a total of 2,128 photographs. Among the 150 photographs in the portraiture category, Chong’s stood out, grabbing third prize. A passionate photographer, he has won several photography awards abroad, including one at the Px3 (Prix de la Photographie Paris) in France. Twenty of his photographs were also selected for the International Photography Award.
Chong, who comes from Malaysia, won the award with his picture “Centenarian.” The photograph features a 103-year-old man taking his afternoon rest. The picture of his late wife is on the wall behind him, next to a clock. His thoughts for his deceased spouse are his alone to know.
Photo by Chong Kok-yew, obtained by Chen Yi-ching, Liberty Times
照片:所有照片由張國耀拍攝,自由時報記者陳怡靜翻攝
The 23-year-old Chong said he launched his project “Centenarian” to coincide with the nation’s centenary. He started to research the project in September last year, and learned that there were about 1,400 centenarians around the country. At first he didn’t think it would be difficult to find 100 of them, but found it wasn’t that simple. He has only photographed 80 centenarians so far.
The project has meant more than just taking pictures. One particular woman, li-ving in a nursing home, hadn’t been visited by her family for so long that when Chong arrived she would kiss his hand and not let go. Chong could only take pictures with his free hand, but was moved by the woman’s loneliness.
A centenarian couple, Chiu Kun-chang and Chiu-Peng Chin-mei, left a big impression on him. They had been married for almost eight decades and were still affectionate with each other. Chiu hugged his wife and kissed her lovingly. Chong said that, in order to let him take a good picture, the couple hugged and kissed three times—at the porch, in the li-ving room and on their bed. Chong said the man was full of beans, but his wife very shy and a bit reluctant to do it.
Photo by Chong Kok-yew, obtained by Chen Yi-ching, Liberty Times
照片:所有照片由張國耀拍攝,自由時報記者陳怡靜翻攝
However, all things are tinged with sadness. One of the women passed away because of bronchial failure about a month after Chong photographed her. He burst out crying when he heard the news and went to the funeral, taking a copy of the photo book as a gift.
Chong said that most centenarians do indeed have the characteristics of “big ears and long earlobes.” Many of them advised eating more vegetables and doing some exercise, but some of the men would smoke a pack of cigarettes a day or have a nightcap.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
輔仁大學應用美術系學生張國耀去年底開始拍攝台灣百歲人瑞。一張百歲爺爺孤坐在已逝老伴照片下的黑白照片,使他從專業攝影者中脫穎而出,贏得「台灣新聞攝影大賽」肖像類第三名。
Photo by Chong Kok-yew, obtained by Chen Yi-ching, Liberty Times
照片:所有照片由張國耀拍攝,自由時報記者陳怡靜翻攝
「台灣新聞攝影大賽」今年有一百二十二人、兩千一百二十八件作品參賽,張國耀從「肖像類」一百五十件作品中脫穎而出獲得第三。熱愛攝影的他去年還獲多項國外攝影獎項,包括Px3法國巴黎攝影比賽獎,還有二十件作品獲「IPA美國國際攝影比賽」榮譽入選。
來自馬來西亞的張國耀,以照片「百歲」奪得肖像類攝影獎,照片中一百零三歲的陳爺爺在午後休憩,已逝老伴遺照就在牆面時鐘旁,爺爺對牽手的思念溢於言表。
二十三歲的張國耀說,自己配合建國百年,決定進行畢業製作「百歲」。去年九月起收集資料,得知國內有近一千四百位人瑞,心想「找百個應該不難吧」,但沒想到找人卻很困難,透過許多管道,至今才拍到八十位人瑞。
拍攝時使他看到不同的人生,有住在安養院的百歲阿嬤許久沒有家人探望,握著他的手直親,讓他只能用單手拍照,卻也深深感受到阿嬤的孤獨。
苗栗的百歲夫妻邱坤長與邱彭錦妹更讓他印象深刻,結婚近八十年仍鶼鰈情深,邱爺爺還大方摟住老婆、送上深情一吻。張國耀笑說,為了讓他取鏡,兩人在門廊、客廳和房間眠床上共擁吻三次,「爺爺精神飽滿,奶奶則很害羞,一直說不要」。
但快樂中也難免遇到悲傷,其中一位奶奶在拍攝月餘,就因支氣管衰竭過世,他得知消息時當場痛哭,赴告別式送上攝影相本。
張國耀指出,百歲人瑞多半有「大耳朵、長耳垂」的特質,不少人瑞都說要多吃蔬菜和多運動,但也有一天得抽一包菸或要喝睡前酒的人瑞爺爺。
(自由時報記者陳怡靜)
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