罗洋强有力的女性肖像挑战了中国的性别规范

Luo Yang's powerful female portraits challenge Chinese gender norms
罗洋强有力的女性肖像挑战了中国的性别规范

翻译编辑：清波门 /南外英语系群

Updated 30th July 2019
2019年7月30日更新

Written byMarlen Komar, CNN
CNN马龙·科马尔撰文

For Chinese photographer Luo Yang, girlhood has a multitude of meanings. But rather than relying on the type of saccharine depictions often used in China to depict young women -- gentle, delicate, and overly feminine -- Luo's ongoing project "Girls" features edgy and alternative subjects who defy stereotype and expectation.

Set against a background of rented apartments, hazy night markets and high-rise balconies, the series invites viewers to think about each woman's story. Sparsely decorated homes hint at struggle, though the subjects' expressions suggest a certain resilience. Some of the young women are photographed with their partners, while others are seen sitting topless on rooftops or smoking at windows.

"My intention (for) the series is to capture and keep the primitive, young state of women, which I think is beautiful," the 34-year-old photographer said in an email interview. "They are all girls, (and) not just in terms of their age. It refers more to a 'girl-like' state of mind."

对于中国摄影师罗洋来说，少女时代有很多含义。但是，罗正在进行的《都市女孩》项目并没有依赖中国用来描述年轻女性的那种糖葫芦式的方式——温柔、细腻、过于女性化——而是以尖锐和另类的主题为特色，这些主题打破了刻板印象和期望。

该剧以出租公寓、朦胧的夜市和高层阳台为背景，邀请观众思考每个女人的故事。装饰稀疏的房子暗示着一种挣扎，尽管被试者的表情显示出一定的韧性。一些年轻女性和她们的伴侣被拍，而其他人则赤裸上身坐在屋顶或对着窗户吸烟。

这位34岁的摄影师在接受电子邮件采访时说:“我拍这个系列的目的是捕捉并保持女性原始、年轻的状态，我认为这很美。”“她们都是女孩，而且不只是年龄。它更多地指的是一种‘女孩般的’心理状态。”

Dismantling gender stereotypes

So what does girlhood look like to Luo? In one photo, a woman stares unflinchingly into the camera as her head is shaved by a naked man. In the next, taken a year later, the same woman stands naked in front of a window, heavily pregnant, gazing out toward the city.

拆除性别刻板印象

那么对于罗来说，少女时代是什么样的呢?在其中一张照片中，一名女子毫不畏惧地凝视着镜头，她的头被一名裸体男子剃光。第二年，也就是一年后，同样的女人赤身裸体地站在窗前，怀着身孕，凝视着窗外的城市。

A portrait from Luo Yang's ongoing series, "Girls." Credit: Luo Yang
罗阳正在拍摄的《都市女孩》系列中的一幅肖像画。罗洋收藏

Other images show young women in a variety of settings: smoking a cigarette amid hanging meat, flashing lace panties on a busy road or roaming Beijing with neon-colored hair. By offering intimate glimpses into her subjects' lives, Luo hopes not only to explore what it means to be a millennial in today's China, but to dismantle gender stereotypes that persist in the country.

The Shenyang-born photographer began "Girls" in her early 20s while studying graphic design at her home city's Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts. A self-professed "confused and lonely youngster," she delved into photography to counter the unease she recalls feeling at that age.

Luo began photographing her classmates and friends as a way to express her "feelings and my inner self." The resulting portraits show women who are strong and self-aware, yet vulnerable, reflecting the struggles of growing up in China.

其他一些照片则展现了不同场景下的年轻女性:在挂满肉的过道中抽烟，在繁忙的道路上炫耀蕾丝内裤，或者染着霓虹色头发在北京漫步。通过对主人公生活的深入了解，罗不仅希望探索在今天的中国成为千禧一代意味着什么，而且希望打破这个国家一直存在的性别成见。

这位出生于沈阳的摄影师20岁出头就开始拍摄《都市女孩》，当时她在家乡的鲁迅美术学院学习平面设计。她自称是一个“困惑和孤独的年轻人”，她钻研摄影来对抗她回忆起那个年龄时的不安。

罗开始拍摄她的同学和朋友，以此来表达她的“感受和内心的自我”。这些肖像展现了坚强、有自我意识但又脆弱的女性，反映了在中国成长的艰辛。

Many of Luo's portraits are shot against urban backdrops. Credit: Luo Yang
罗的许多肖像画都是在城市背景下拍摄的。罗洋收藏

"In China, there are many traditional definitions and limits for women," Luo said, attributing expectations to those in the country who expect women to be accommodating and dutiful, including parents and friends.

"Instead, I choose to show girls with body hair and buzz cuts because they attract me deeply (and) maybe because of our mutual protest against the mainstream stereotypes of women," said Luo, explaining that she often lets her own body hair grow out.

"Not all (the series' subjects) are completely mainstream types of girl, but most of them are very free and independent, and I see more and more of these girls in China as the times change."

“在中国，对女性有很多传统的定义和限制，”罗说，她将这种期望归因于包括父母和朋友在内的那些希望女性乐于助人、尽职尽责。

罗说:“相反，我选择展示那些留着体毛和短发的女孩，因为她们深深地吸引了我，也许是因为我们共同反对主流的女性刻板印象。”她解释说，她经常让自己的体毛长出来。

“并非所有(这一系列的拍摄对象)都是完全主流的女孩类型，但其中大多数都非常自由和独立，随着时代的变迁，我在中国看到越来越多这样的女孩。”

New paths

Individual stories of defiance can be found among the hundreds of subjects featured in "Girls" over the past 11 years. Take, for example, Gelaicuomao, a Tibetan girl living in west China's Qinghai province.

She had plans of leaving her small town to become a fashion designer, though her parents forced her to become a teacher, according to Luo. But Gelaicuomao's portrait shows a defiant young woman with a spiky pixie haircut and hot-pink dress. Luo -- who said that the young woman is moving to Shanghai this year to pursue a career in design -- felt the room light up with her subject's energy.

"I hope the girls around me, as well as myself, can live more freely, more independently and chase their dreams," Luo said, "and that my photos might provide them with a certain amount of encouragement and praise to do so."

新路径

在过去的11年里，《都市女孩》中的数百个主题中都有关于反抗的故事。以生活在中国西部青海省的藏族女孩葛来措毛为例。

据罗说，她原本打算离开家乡，成为一名时装设计师，尽管她的父母强迫她成为一名教师。但在葛来措毛的肖像中，她是一位充满挑战的年轻女子，留着尖尖的精灵发型，穿着粉色连衣裙。罗说，这位年轻女子今年将搬到上海从事设计工作，她觉得房间里充满了她拍摄对象的活力。

“我希望我身边的女孩们，包括我自己，能更自由、更独立地生活，追逐自己的梦想，”罗说，“我的照片可能会给她们一些鼓励和赞扬。”