Homes by Mu-Tien Tammy Ho

「『窗』為室內與室外建立了一個模糊的邊界。當這扇窗正好是『家』的窗戶,更成了一矛盾的存在。『家』是避風港,提供我們放鬆、休息的空間,在此邊界之外者,則被這個私人的親密空間排除在外。但是,這樣壁壘分明的界線,時常輕易地被穿越窗戶的視線打破。」

英國布萊登大學攝影碩士畢業的何沐恬,攝影創作關注於日常生活場景,以及空間與個人的關係。在國外留學的期間,深受英式住宅面向馬路的大開窗吸引,這也成了她創作「家居窗景(Homes)」的契機。

何沐恬自述,「作為一名『外來者』(外國人/留學生),我深深受到布萊登的英式住宅中,面向馬路的大開窗吸引。這樣的窗戶,在我的家鄉台北非常少見,因為台北的人口密度高,住宅多是大廈公寓,又因氣候炎熱,不適合大面玻璃引入過多陽光的設計。布萊登的家居窗景總讓我想起自己身在外地、離『家』遙遠的事實,但同時它也滿足了我對當地居民日常生活的好奇。他們每天回家都做些什麼、又生活在怎樣的家中呢?
我漸漸無法將視線從街上的窗戶移開。對我而言,那些再平凡不過的居家場景都是如此地特別。然而,當我從外窺視時,我是否也覺得疏離?」

在這個系列攝影作品中,何沐恬嘗試與當地居民合作(大多數被攝者先前並不認識),同時嘗試模糊快拍和佈局兩種攝影方式的界線,以「外來者」的眼光演繹異鄉的日常。

 

The windows in our houses demarcate a permeable boundary between the inside and outside. The interior is a shelter, a back region, and a place that offers a sense of relaxation; people on the exterior are not invited to enter this intimate space. However, the boundaries of our ‘castle’ can somehow be crossed by simply looking through the windows.

As a foreigner, Mu-Tien Tammy Ho is fascinated by the large street-facing windows in residential buildings in Brighton. They are very different from her city, Taipei, where people live in high apartments with small windows. The windows in Brighton remind her she is not in her city, but at the same time they also offer her clues to British everyday life, about which she is very curious.

She finds she cannot take her eyes off the windows. For her, even an ordinary domestic scene is attractive and special. Yet, did she just feel a sense of alienation when peeking in from outside?

By cooperating with local residents (who are mostly strangers to her), she tries to straddle the line between snapshot and staged photography, and expresses the everyday from an outsider’s view.