12 people empowerment stories; 12 associations in Taiwan...
SEEING, LEARNING, ACTING
A three-storied house on a hill in Muzha, on a Saturday afternoon. On the playground, young kids have a nap after lunchtime. At first sight, you would think you are in a kindergarten. But as I enter, nannies disinfect my hands. Others are giving ‘magic cocktails’, which is medication, to some children. Upstairs, elder kids have class with a volunteer teacher. We are in an orphanage where some children carry HIV, run by Yangjie, a second mum to the 24 children.
Yangjie’s devotion to the children is a story of love and fight for life; offering a second chance to the ones who need it the most. Above words, seeing it is realizing it.
This photo book is a story full of interesting encounters, emotions caught through a camera lens… The twelve people in this book have different backgrounds and stories to tell, but to me they were as one kind: people who went through difficult times and now are making a difference in the society for others.
For example, after the sudden death of her husband, Mrs Wu built an association to welcome single parents. Following the 1999 earthquake, which devastated Nantou County, Mr 廖振益 built ‘Longyan Community‘ to distribute lunch boxes to the ones in need. Now, these associations grew bigger and I could see how the combined efforts of the community can put an end to loneliness and turn it into positive energy.
Problems do not disappear and it takes time to learn to live with them, but as Mrs Wu working at “Single Families Association” in Taipei, told me: “When I am helping the people coming here, I am also helping myself”. Indeed, as handicaps or hard times affect people’s lives, it can also mean a new beginning of one’s life, a new experience, a new challenge.
All the pictures in this book are matters of reflection to me, and make me think of what has to be worked on still: A better access to normal education for children carrying HIV, more training courses other than massage courses, offered to blind people, more programs of rehabilitations for ex-prisoners…
As I was photographing, I learned more about the Taiwanese society. These people could be me, could be you… And as it did for me, I hope this book will call for more collective awareness.
十二個生命、十二個場景。 這些由每一分每一秒組成的人生，在在展現出言語無法形容的生命力。
這是一本用照片完成的故事書，書中種種的美學風景，一頁一頁刻畫出許許多多生命慨問：「快樂是什麼？體貼是什麼？慈愛是什麼？耐心又是什麼？」這些問題，在不同的命運中不斷被提問出來，又在不同的人生中，被喚醒。
當我調整楊捷女士的照片時，每一次都在螢幕前邊拭淚，邊修繕稿件。
她的愛，每一次都是恆久的忍耐與恩慈。一樣地，每一位笑開的中寮鄉老人們，也在廖振益理事長手裏，接過了一口又一口的愛心送餐。愛，就在行為中，就在幫助裏，這不僅是一種照片的形式美學，更是生活中最重要的心靈之美。
這種美，讓我們以感恩珍惜一切，讓我們能面對生老病死與喜怒哀愁的無常。
這個世界有很多慈愛的故事，也有許多博愛的見證。這些我們沒親眼見過的，通常會被視為傳奇。然而，我希望與您分享的是：這些傳奇故事，可能都悄然存在於我們身旁，主角可能是我們家人，也可能是我們的朋友，甚至屬於我們故事中的一小部份。
最後，容我引用一段智語，拍照時惦記德蕾沙姆姆的一段話：「一顆純潔的心會自由地給予、自由地愛，直到成傷也在所不惜。」而他們，十二位尊敬的朋友們，讓我深深的感受到，生命就是：
「幫助、愛與自由。」
楊鎮豪 photoxgo 2008/Oct
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