In front of a sky-patterned curtain, a mom cradles her baby. Her fatigue remains in plain sight, even through the heavy make-up. The dad, standing alongside, looks down at the kid with a look of love and concern. It’s a photo not unlike one you might find in your own family album, and it’s precisely this familiarity that draws you in for a closer look. But scrutiny will reveal something uncanny: both the mom and dad appear to be the same person. This is the work of Rie Yamada, a Nagoya-born and Germany-based artist who intrudes family portraits, replacing every individual with an alternate version of herself.
天蓝色的幕布前，一位身着家居服的妈妈抱着孩子，精致打扮的面容上依然可以看出疲态，另一边的丈夫低头看向宝宝，仿佛生怕它再次哭出声来似的小心翼翼；另一双情侣相互扶持地站在镜头前摆正姿势，笑得欢快，一人穿着明黄色的针织衫，一人身穿藏青色的套装……
这些角色和场景看起来如此熟悉，似乎就是寻常家庭相册里会出现的照片，但仔细一看，照片中的所有人却似乎都长成同一般模样。这就是日本艺术家 Rie Yamada 的作品——她把合家欢照片中的人物，都替换上了自己的脸……
The series, Familie Werden (meaning “Becoming Family” in German), is part one of a trilogy that examines the past, present, and future in the context of familial life.
To create the series, Rie obtained family photos from second-hand markets, auctions, and internet archives. Referencing these images, she found or reconstructed settings in the likeness of the original image, dressed like the images’ subjects, and mimicked their poses. “In front of the lens, wearing their clothes, hairstyle, and make-up, I often felt like I was really a part of their family,” Rie laughs.
Rie Yamada 出生于 1984 年的日本名古屋，她在德国长大，毕业于柏林魏森塞艺术学院。“Familie Werden”是她关于家庭主题创作的摄影系列三部曲中的第一部分，旨在聚焦家庭的过去、现在和未来。
这个系列中的每张图片都是从旧货市场、拍卖会和网络档案中收集来的大量快照，也分别来自世界各地不同的家庭，她只是“重新创作”了这些照片，把自己作为画中人“替换”掉原有的家庭成员。她会通过浏览各种历史和老照片，收集尽可能多的信息，然后还原照片中的布景，摆出近乎一模一样的姿势，再定时拍摄，以此来讲述一个个全新的故事。
By re-enacting these family photos from the past, she examines the weakening of family bonds in modern times. The project has even helped her glean new insight into her own family background and ancestry. “We have photo albums from my mother’s childhood and onwards, but unfortunately, we hardly have any of the older albums with family members that I have never met because our relatives had gotten rid of them,” she sighs. “This was one of the factors that inspired me to focus on the topic of families and family photos.”
“很奇怪的是，站在镜头前，穿着相似的衣服、妆容和发型，我觉得自己仿佛已经融为这些家庭的一份子了。”Rie Yamada 说道。她觉得，要了解这些家庭和过去的家庭照片，最好的方法就是真正“成为”这个家庭里的一员。在这整个过程里，也让她思考了自己和现实家庭的关系，了解到了原本不知道的家族历史。
“我们家确实有我母亲童年及以后的相册，但可惜的是，那些收有未曾某面的家庭成员们的相册，已经被亲戚扔掉了。”她不无遗憾地说道，“这也是促使我关注家庭和家庭照片这一主题的因素之一。”
Another source of inspiration came from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, or rather, a specific part of the recovery effort. Countless homes were destroyed by the disaster, and people’s personal belongings were washed away or waterlogged. Despite the amount of financial damage this caused, many people only wanted one thing: their family photo albums. And so, volunteers came together to find, clean, and return these lost family photos to their rightful owners. Rie found these efforts fascinating. It shined a light on just how much people prioritized their families and memories.
这个摄影三部曲系列的诞生还源自另一个契机。2011年，日本福岛大地震和海啸导致了当地无数人家妻离子散、流离失所，而千千万万的幸存者们，比起睹物思人的痛苦，更希望的却是能尽快找回自己的家庭大合照，这比他们在灾难中失去的任何东西都重要。于是，当地出现了很多志愿者发掘、清理、归还家庭照片的项目。Rie Yamada 觉得这非常有趣，也让她对家庭重新产生了思考。
The relationship between an individual and their own family has since been an ongoing topic of interest for Rie, and her roleplay of the different individuals that compose a family—with their own personalities, genders, and backgrounds—has allowed her to better grasp the nuances of the relationship dynamics of different families. It’s also a meditation on the changing photo-taking habits of modern times. Today, people most often turn their cameras on themselves, taking filtered selfies for their social media. “Photographs are proof of existence, especially now, because we live in a time where photography has been popularized and digitized,” she says. “We must think about the future of photography and the future of family photography, and because we live in a time of drastic social changes, we must also think about what makes a family a family.”
Rie Yamada 喜欢探究人与家庭之间的密切关系。无论是笑靥如画的青春少女，或是满头白发、儿孙满堂的老奶奶……身为传统血亲关系和现代个人主义两相交融的一代，Rie Yamada 近乎本能地深入到这种文化冲突中去，并将此借由镜头展现出来。
“照片是我们存在的证明。尤其是我们生活在一个摄影普及化、数字化的时代，我们必须思考家庭照片的未来、思考摄影的未来。也正因为我们生活在一个社会大变革的时代，我们必须思考什么才是一个家庭。”
If Familie Werden is an examination of family through the lens of the past, then part two of the series, Familie Suchen (meaning “Looking for Family”), can be seen as an extension of similar thematics in the present time. In it, she looks to the matchmaking parties of contemporary Japan for inspiration. More reflective than critical, she dressed in the likeness of the men she encountered at these events—many of whom have hopes of meeting someone they can build a family with. The project examines the nature of modern relationships, self-identity, and asks viewers to reconsider what they truly value in a romantic partner.
For the project’s finale, which remains untitled, Rie will look to the future. “In art history and photography, family has been a frequently revisited subject,” she says. “Families are groups of people that embody the cultural and historical backdrop of the time; therefore, family photos exemplify the cultural and historical background and are a reflection of society at the time.”
Even after she completes the project, Rie plans on creating more art that builds on the theme of family. She says that it may just become her life’s work. “Whatever the topic, I would like to keep exploring the various aspects of society through my own experiences.”
如果说《Familie Werden》侧重于家庭的过往历史，那么在该系列的第二部分《Familie Suchen》中，Rie Yamada 把主题伸入了另一个层面：当下。为此，她寻找“租赁家庭”和“在线相亲”活动，这种租借活动旨在可为客户提供合适的演员，以在社交活动场合中扮演朋友、家人或同事的角色。从而去了解眼下日本年轻人对“租赁亲友”对需求，并在作品中探讨这种屡见不鲜的现象。
Rie Yamada 目前正在创作该系列的第三部分，这则将关于她自己和未来家庭的故事了。她说：“在艺术史和摄影史上，家庭的主题被反复研究。家庭是一个人的集合，体现了当时的文化和历史背景，因此，家庭照片体现了文化和历史背景，是当时社会的反映。”但如今，“家庭”是传统社会的基本构成单元的观念渐渐弱化，取而代之的是“个人”，越来越成为社会基本单位。
她计划在这三部分系列完成后，也会进一步研究家庭这个话题，作为我人生工作的一部分。“但不管是什么主题，我都想通过自己的经历，继续探讨社会的方方面面。”她自信地说道。
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Website: www.rieyamada.com
Instagram: @rie_bergfeld
Contributor: Chen Yuan
