來自斯洛伐克的Maria Svarbová鍾情工整對稱的構圖，她的作品往往帶來一種疏離的氛圍，彷佛讓人置身一個不存在的時空。
她其中兩輯最廣為人知的作品Swimming Pool和Plastic World便完全體現了她的美學態度。Swimming Pool通過柔和的色調和過度曝光去描繪的氛圍，引領觀眾到一個完全消毒的世界中。Maria沒有運用任何多餘筆觸於作品，避免揭露照片中的主體 — 泳者的真貌。
Symmetry and neatness are the 2 keywords of Maria Svarbová’s composition. The Slovak’s works often emit an atmosphere of isolation that could make people feel they’re somehow in a dimension that had never existed.
Maria’s attitude towards aesthetics are well reflected by 2 of her most popular albums, Swimming Pool & Plastic World. The former created a completely sterilized world by the use of soft color tones and over exposure. To prevent exposing the swimmer’s face, she chose not to do anything extra in her works.
在這輯作品中，時間儼如沒有流動，泳者沒有別的想法，只能看到自己的影像反映在泳池完美的水域中。Maria表示，這個拍攝概念源於電影和漫畫的結合，她認為她的照片是一系列的場景的演變，對稱的影像消除了照片的敘述性，呈現影像的本質。運用修圖軟件，Maria能夠以極其精確的方式掌握這種細緻嚴謹的審美觀，消除泳者的個性和身份，讓所有泳者變得一樣。
It seems that time has stopped and the swimmer has nothing to do but looking at her reflection from the pool. Such concept of composition comes from the combination of film and comics said Maria, who sees her works as a series of changes in scenes. Symmetry in images presents their core nature while clearing the narrativity they carry. With the use of retouching software, she can accurately master such exquisite aesthetics by eliminating the swimmer’s identity and make all the swimmers look the same.
而Plastic World這系列作品，則展現了一個虛構的世界，Maria直言這是受捷克斯洛伐克共產主義下的歷史文物和環境所啟發。Maria把鏡頭對目無表情的個體。通過個體空洞的目光、僵硬的姿勢和完全沒有情緒的表現手法，這一系列作品邀請觀眾質疑人們在社會中扮演的角色。每張照片都環環相扣，形成整個系列的敘述。空洞和無意識的氛圍，展現人們無力改變預定角色的張力。
這兩輯作品同樣挑戰我們對社會的既定觀感，在Maria精心佈置的作品中，我們或許能在仿似不存在的世界中找到難以言喻的和諧。
The virtual world shown in Plastic World originates from the Communist relics and environment of Czechoslovakia. Maria points the lens to the expressionless individuals. Through the empty eyesight, stiff poses and completely emotionless expressions, this album leads people to judge their roles in the society. The photos are closely linked with one another, telling the full series of the story. The atmosphere of emptiness and senseless reveals that people could hardly change their predetermined roles.
Both of these albums pose challenges against our perceptions towards the society. Through Maria’s ingenious works, we could perhaps discover the indescribable harmony — in a world that might not exist.
MARIA SVARBOVÁ
斯洛伐克攝影師。獨特的拍攝風格與傳統肖像不同，她的作品側重於空間，色彩和氛圍的實驗。 Maria對社會主義時代的建築和公共空間尤其感興趣，以鏡頭對準每個場景，展現其獨特的美學態度。
網站：http://www.mariasvarbova.com/
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Image used with permission
Originally published at projectrawhk.com on 2018
