天才摄影师奥利维亚?比伊

2013-04-29 00:44byKathySweeney译/SherryZhang
新东方英语 2013年6期
关键词:广告代理爱马仕

by Kathy Sweeney 译/Sherry Zhang

奥利维亚·比伊是一位年仅18岁的天才摄影师。她11岁时开始用相机捕捉生活的瞬间,15岁时接到匡威抛来的橄榄枝,开始拍摄宣传照,走上职业摄影之路。此后,她相继得到耐克、李维斯、爱马仕等品牌的垂青,拿下一个个让职业摄影师垂涎不已的任务。这个无比自信的女孩在男性至上的摄影圈里找到了自己的位置,但她的理想似乎远未就此止步。

Olivia Bee is not your typical American teenager. For one thing, people want to hear what she has to say—and are willing to pay for the privilege. A good thing, too, since the disarmingly1) self-assured 18-year-old has plenty to say. Already financially independent and living in Brooklyn, New York (shes originally from Portland, Oregon), Bee takes photographs, often of friends, which lean towards the documentary but have a foothold in art. Shes been doing it since the age of 11. “I took a photography class in sixth grade, and I started putting the pictures on Flickr2), to show people what was going on in my life.” She quickly established a cult following and by 15, she had turned professional.

Nan Goldin3) is a major influence, but while Goldins photographs portrayed the seamier side4) of sex and drugs and rock n roll, Bee finds a dreamlike, innocent colour in her friends gently dissolute5) experimentation. There are no grimy rooms or drug paraphernalia6) on show here; she makes being a teenager look bohemian and enticing. Beautiful youth is a marketing mans dream, of course, and so at breakneck7) speed she has taken the art—and advertising—worlds by storm.

Given that so many established photographers want to break into the lucrative world of advertising, its a remarkable achievement. How did it happen?

“Converse8)s ad agency, VSA9), saw my stuff on Flickr and kept emailing me saying they wanted to work with me. I thought it was spam—I didnt know what an ad agency was, let alone VSA Partners,” she shrugs. “Eventually Converse emailed me: ‘Did you get the emails from our ad agency? Why arent you responding? Only then did I get it. And so when they did a shoot in Portland [where she was at school] they brought me on set and had me shoot some stuff.”

Since Converse took that gamble on her at the age of 15, she has shot campaigns for, among others, Nike, Subaru10), Levis and Hermès11) (“They sent me 30 scarves and said, do what you like”). Her work has been exhibited all over the world and she has an ongoing series in Le Monde12).

Last December, she addressed around 300 women at a TEDx13) conference in Amsterdam. “Nothing gets in my way,” she told them, “because I dont accept anything getting in my way.” She means it, too. She recently dispensed with a model on an Adidas shoot because she felt she wasnt listening to her. To say that shes an achiever would be something of an understatement.

In January, she shot Girls14) star Zosia Mamet for the New York Times magazine. This seems a perfect fit—if Bee wasnt taking pictures of the girls in Girls, shed probably be one of the girls in Girls. Its easy to imagine Jessa15) from that show taking snaps of the other characters, casually hitting the Zeitgeist16) and going stratospheric17). But, unlike those actors and contrary to the claims of some sceptics, Bee isnt “connected.” Her father works in IT and her mother is a hairdresser. Until she turned 18, one of them would chaperone18) her as she juggled19) paid assignments with homework.

“It was a legality thing. I also had to have a schoolteacher accompany me. It was kind of what actors have to do when theyre under 18. My parents have been great. They dont help unless I ask for it; they let me do my own thing.” The work did take its toll20) on her studies, however. “For a few years, I was a straight-A student but then photos got in the way. I was pretty good at maths and science. I was a good reader and Im really good at writing and art. I was not good at PE and music class could be stressful. I was pretty academically inclined and smart overall.”

Even with such preternatural confidence, directing people is difficult at any age, especially in the macho21) world of photography. so where does her authority come from? “Im an assertive person and I know what I want. And Im going to get what I want if I can. I know how to do that. Being 18 and a girl can be really hard. People dont take me seriously—until they see me work. Sometimes, even if theyve seen my work, theyre still nervous and have to convince their client its OK, or they have to lie about it,” she says, candidly.

“Obviously its probably hard to trust me straightaway. I know Im good at my job and I know someone could put any prop in front of me and I could shoot it in a way I think is successful. But its still hard. Most photos in advertising are shot by 50-year-old men and Im not a 50-year-old man.”

Professional jealousy has also been an issue, unsurprisingly. “When I got the Fiat22) 500 campaign, a lot of men were very angry because a girl who had just turned 17 got that job and they didnt. When I turned 18, it was a little less of a problem—I was then a very young adult. But often people think Im a PA or a very small model.”

She may be part of the Instagram23) generation, but she prefers the timeless quality that film brings to her pictures. “It lends itself to memory; its magical. I want to evoke nostalgia in everyone, and to take photos you can relate to24), regardless of your situation, your gender, race, where you grew up, whether youre a teenager …”

Like most high-achievers, she thinks big—her ambition is not limited to photography. “I will make movies at some point,” she declares breezily. “I want to make a feature film. A collection of memories, real and imagined.” Itd be a poor investment to bet against her25).

奥利维亚·比伊并非人们眼中典型的美国少年。首先,人们想要倾听她要表达的东西,而且乐意为此殊荣自掏腰包。这也是件好事,因为这个自信的18岁少女有很多话要说,而她的自信不会把你惹恼。比伊在经济上已经独立,现在居住在纽约布鲁克林区(她的原籍是俄勒冈州的波特兰市)。她拍摄各种照片,通常拍的是她的朋友们,照片偏重纪实,但在艺术方面也站得住脚。她从11岁时就开始拍摄照片。“我六年级选了摄影课,然后就开始在Flickr网站上发照片,向人们展示我生活中发生的故事。”很快她就受到无数人的推崇。15岁时,她已成为一名职业摄影师。

南·高丁对她的影响很大,但高丁在照片中描绘的是性、毒品和摇滚中较为阴暗的一面;而比伊却在朋友们有些放纵的体验式生活中发现了一种梦幻般的纯真色彩。照片中没有布满灰尘的房间或是毒品用具;她让十几岁的少年看起来不羁而迷人。毫无疑问,美好的青春是营销者的梦想,所以她以迅雷不及掩耳之势在艺术界——同时也在广告界——掀起了一股风潮。

鉴于有那么多知名摄影师都想打入获利丰厚的广告业,比伊获得的成就实在是非比寻常。这一切又是如何开始的呢?

“匡威的广告代理公司VSA在Flickr网站上看到了我的作品后,一直给我发邮件,说想要和我合作。我以为是垃圾邮件——我不知道广告代理公司是做什么的,更别提VSA Partners广告公司了,”她耸了耸肩说道,“最后匡威给我发了邮件:‘您是否收到我们广告代理公司的邮件?您为什么没有回复?那一刻我才明白是怎么回事。就这样,后来他们在波特兰(比伊在那里上学)拍摄时,就让我加入其中,让我来拍一些东西。”

自从匡威在时值15岁的她身上做了那次冒险尝试之后,她又为耐克、斯巴鲁、李维斯、爱马仕和其他公司拍摄了宣传照(“爱马仕给了我30条丝巾,说让我按照自己的想法来拍”),她的作品在全世界展出,在《世界报》上还一直有系列照片刊登。

去年12月,在阿姆斯特丹举行的TEDx会议上,她对在场的约三百名女性观众发表演讲。“没有什么能阻挡我,”她告诉她们,“因为我不会让任何东西阻挡我。”她可不是说说而已。最近在为阿迪达斯拍摄宣传照时,她就遣走了一个模特,因为她觉得模特儿不听自己的安排。说她小有成就可能还真小看了她。

今年1月,她为《纽约时报》杂志拍摄美剧《衰姐们》中的主演佐西亚·麦梅特的照片。这看上去是个完美的组合——如果比伊不是为《衰姐们》里的女孩子拍照的话,她自己很可能就是该剧中的女孩之一。不难想象剧中的杰西为其他角色拍照,在不经意间准确反映出时代精神,从而声名鹊起。但是比伊和那些演员不同,与一些怀疑论者对她的质疑相反,她没有任何关系。她的爸爸从事IT业,妈妈是个发型师。18岁以前,当她尽力在有偿工作和家庭作业间寻得平衡时,她的父亲或母亲会在她身旁相伴。

“这是法律规定的。我还必须得有个学校老师陪同。这就像是不满18岁的演员必须要做的那样。我的父母都非常好,如果我不要求,他们不会来帮我,他们放手让我做自己的事。”但工作的确给她的学习带来不好的影响。“有那么几年,我一直都是全A生,但后来拍照影响了成绩。我以前数学和科学学得都不错,阅读也很好。我对写作和艺术真的很在行。但我不擅长体育,上音乐课会觉得紧张。我学习上很有天赋,总的来说也够聪明。”

尽管有着这份超乎寻常的自信,但指挥别人在哪个年纪都不容易,在男性至上的摄影圈里尤其艰难。她如何建立起自己的权威呢?“我是个坚定而自信的人,我知道自己想要什么。只要有可能,我就会去争取我想要的东西。我知道怎么做到这一点。只有18岁,而且是个女孩子,要做到这点的确不容易。人们不把我当回事——直到他们看到我的作品。有时候,即便他们看了我的作品,仍然觉得担心。他们还得去说服他们的客户相信我的作品没问题,或者他们不得不对客户说谎。”她直言不讳。

“显然,要让人马上相信我可能很难。我知道自己擅长这份工作,我知道只要有人在我面前放上任何道具,我就能以我觉得会成功的方式拍出照片。但还是很难。广告业的许多照片都是由50岁的男性拍的,而我不是50岁的男性。”

同行间的嫉妒也是个问题,这并不出人意料。“我拿下拍菲亚特500宣传照的任务后,许多男士愤愤不平,一个刚满17岁的女孩竟然得到了这份工作,而他们却没有。我满18岁后,这个问题就不那么突出了——那时的我还很年轻,但已是成年人了。不过人们还是经常把我当成私人助手或是个头很小的模特。”

她可能属于热衷使用Instagram软件的一代人,但她更喜欢胶卷赋予她照片的永恒特质。“胶卷有助于唤起人们的记忆。这很神奇。我想要唤起每个人对过去的怀恋,拍摄那些能让你产生共鸣的照片,不管你处在什么地位,是什么性别,属于哪个种族,在哪里成长,是否年少……”

像大多数卓有成就的人一样,她的志向高远。她的理想并不仅仅限于摄影。“将来某个时候我会拍电影,”她轻快地说,“我想要拍部故事片,里面充满回忆,有真实的,也有虚幻的。”谁要是打赌断定她不行,那可要赌输了。

1. disarmingly [d?s?ɑ?(r)m??li] adv. 解人忧虑地,消除敌意地

2. Flickr:一家提供在线照片管理和分享的网站。该网站由加拿大Ludicorp网络软件公司开发设计,2005年3月被雅虎收购。

3. Nan Goldin:南·高丁(1953~),20世纪90年代纽约最著名的女摄影师、艺术家

4. seamy side:(生活等的)阴暗面

5. dissolute [?d?s?lu?t] adj. 放荡的,耽于酒色的

6. paraphernalia [?p?r?f?(r)?ne?li?] n. (与某一活动有关的)用具,装备

7. breakneck [?bre?k?nek] adj. 极快的

8. Converse:匡威,世界顶级运动品牌之一,1908年创始于美国,创办人是美国人摩尔·匡威(Mills Converse, 1861~1931)。

9. VSA:美国一家广告创意服务公司,全称为VSA Partners, Inc.。

10. Subaru:斯巴鲁,富士重工业株式会社(FHI)旗下专业从事汽车制造的一家分公司,成立于1953年。

11. Hermès:爱马仕,法国著名时装及奢侈品品牌,1837年由蒂埃利·爱马仕(Thierry Hermès, 1801~1878)创立。

12. Le Monde:《世界报》,法国第二大全国性日报,是法国在海外销售量最大的日报。

13. TEDx:指那些由本地TED粉丝自愿发起、自行组织的小型聚会,以让本地的TED粉丝能够聚到一起分享类似TED的经历与体验。TED不会参与TEDx活动,但是会对活动组织者给予指导和意见。TED (即technology、entertainment、design的缩写)是美国一家私有的非营利机构,该机构以它组织的TED大会著称,这个会议的宗旨是“用思想的力量来改变世界”。

14. Girls:《衰姐们》,美国热门电视系列剧,2012年在美国HBO (Home Box Office)电视网首播。

15. Jessa:杰西,美剧《衰姐们》中的主角之一,由来自英国的女演员杰米玛·科克(Jemima Kirke, 1985~)饰演。剧中的Jessa时尚、有个性,深受观众的喜爱。

16. Zeitgeist [?za?t?ɡa?st] n. (尤指文学、哲学和政治中表现出的)时代精神,时代思潮

17. stratospheric [?str?t??sf??r?k] adj. 最上层的,最高部位的

18. chaperone [???p?r??n] vt. 给……作监护人,陪伴

19. juggle [?d??ɡ(?)l] vt. 力图使平衡

20. take its toll:带来不好的影响

21. macho [?m?t???] adj. 富有男子汉气概的,大男子主义的

22. Fiat:菲亚特,意大利著名汽车制造公司,成立于1899年。

23. Instagram:一款用于图片分享的移动应用程序,可以快速地将人们随时抓拍的图片分享给其他人。

24. relate to:发生共鸣,认同,欣赏

25. bet against sb.:打赌断定某人不行

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