Through the Lens
Artist Talk with Jo Farrell
Spend an afternoon at Blue Lotus Gallery with photographer and cultural anthropologist Jo Farrell.
Jo will show her latest documentary work on womens traditions and cultures in Asia and will discuss the aesthetics of beauty in our modern day society. Learn the stories behind the Chin and Kayan tribes centuries old traditions of modifying the body for beauty and marriage. Follow in her footsteps and learn what it takes to go into rural areas, staying on the floor of villages huts, travelling by boat, train, and motorbike to capture some of the last remaining women who followed their tribes customs.
親臨Blue Lotus Gallery與攝影師及文化人類學家Jo Farrell一起度過愉快的下午。
Jo將展示她最新關於亞洲女性傳統及文化的紀錄片，並將會一同探討當下現代社會中的女性美學。 這部新紀錄片涵蓋關於Chin和Kayan部落背後的故事，以及數世紀以來部落女性為了美感和婚姻而修改身體的傳統。 一起來跟隨Jo的步伐，了解需要甚麼條件才可進入這些農村地區，去住在村莊小屋的地板上；跟她一起乘船、火車和電單車開展旅程，去捕捉這些絕無僅有仍然跟隨其部落習俗的女性。
What makes a person attractive, attainable, suitable for marriage? Every society dictates what is their beauty standard and how women should follow the rules. Through Jo Farrell’s work we look at traditions that have been alive for centuries that are now deemed unacceptable. An award-winning black & white photographer and cultural anthropologist, Jo captures last remaining women with bound feet, the Chin women with tattooed faces and the Kayan women with brass coils around their necks, legs and arms. Her work embodies anthropology—interviews into the womens lives, video of them talking about the details of their beauty practice and black & white photographs showing the intensely personal details of their body modifications. They bare witness to their own stories as an anthology of women who have been through these traditions, humanizing these traditions and creating a historical account for generations to come.
Since 2005 she has been working on a long-term project of documenting and celebrating the lives of the last remaining women with bound feet in China. In 2015, Jo first travelled to Myanmar and has returned a dozen times to capture on film the women of the Chin and Kayan tribes in remote areas of this wonderful, spiritual land.
Her work has been published globally including: the BBC, The Guardian, SCMP, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Time Out Hong Kong, Stern, China Daily. Jo was recently interviewed on CNN, RTHK3 and French NPR. Awards include: Black & White Spider Awards, Women in Photography Awards, Centre for Fine Art Photography, and a Jacob Riis Award. Her work has been exhibited in London, Hong Kong and San Francisco.
到底甚麼因素令一個人有吸引力、可以獲得以及適合婚姻？每個社會都定斷了他們的美學標準，以及定立女性應該遵守的規則。透過Jo Farrell的作品，我們可以看到數世紀以來一直存在的傳統，甚至有些指標目前已被認為是不可接受。作為一名屢獲殊榮的黑白攝影師及文化人類學家，Jo的鏡頭對準了碩果僅存的女性群：纏足女性、擁有面部紋身的Chin族女性、以及在頸子、腿部和手臂戴著黃銅線圈的Kayan族女性。Jo的作品深入體現人類學－採訪這群女性的日常生活、攝錄她們談論其獨特美學的影片、及捕捉她們展示身上強烈個人細節的黑白照片。這份女性選集讓她們難能可貴地能夠親眼目睹屬於自身的故事，而這些故事是透過她們的傳統以及將這些傳統人性化，去為後代創造出的歷史記錄。
自2005年開始，Jo一直致力於記錄及頌揚中國僅存的纏足女性的長期企劃。 而於2015年，Jo首次前往緬甸，並已來回該地數十次，一心一意為拍攝Chin及Kayan族女性所在的偏遠但美妙且充滿靈性之地。
Jo的作品曾於世界各地發布，包括：《BBC》、《衛報》、《南華早報》、《赫芬頓郵報》、《華爾街日報》、《Time Out 香港》、《亮點》、《中國日報》。 Jo最近接受了CNN、香港電台及法國NPR的採訪。獎項包括：Black & White Spider Awards、Women in Photography Awards、Centre for Fine Art Photography以及Jacob Riis Award。她的作品曾在倫敦、香港和三藩市展出。
Find out more about Jo Farrell 了解更多關於Jo Farrell : www.jofarrell.com
