李志超攝影集內 Vanity Fair 篇之前言                                                 2014 9

 
 
 
其實李志超在號外最活躍那個時期,我已淡出了,他原先是以寫文為主,不知怎的慢慢見他涉足到去攝影那範,最初只是拍些附在他自己文章內的照片,但可能他是新手,對「開工」特別熱心雀躍,兼且又樂於配合作者的意念,所以我有文章想加照片也找他幫手。不過給李志超在攝影方面得到盡情發揮的機會,是當時號外那本「Book B—— Private Eye
 
 
那時號外為了吸引廣告商,無論內容和外觀即使不徹底商業化,也盡量做很 slick,另一方面為了保持原來的小眾本色,便附多一本著重創意空間的 Private Eye,而施德居然又肯放任李志超在這本「Book B」胡作妄為,差不多成了他的私人遊樂場,正好替他未來的攝影創作作熱身和實驗。
 
                                                      李志超 2014 年出版的攝影集封面
 
正如我在另一篇寫李志超的文章說:「年輕時誤打誤撞,乜都敢死,不止留下很多有趣的回憶,也同時留下不少有趣,甚至只此一沒有機會 take two 的作品,成功失敗早已不是 issue 了。」這正好反映李志超在號外時期作品的特色,不是每次實驗都成功,但必然有趣,亦必然充滿澎湃創意,我們不能要求剛起步的他有著專業攝影師的水準,但永遠被他那份勇於嘗試的熱枕所打動,像他不知落幾多口水哄到當年未怎見過世面的張藝謀肯脫衣扮成三島由紀夫模樣拍下一轉半帶 camp 半帶性感的照片,就很有收藏價值。
 
 
回顧李志超那段期間的其他作品,例如拍譚家明、吳宇森等都能捕捉到他們藝術家氣質的一面,亦具歐陸氣息,另外他把劉德華變成「文藝青年」、高雄化身為一個有著指揮家般氣質的文化人皆十分有趣,黃耀明那輯仿陳舊、發甫士咭照片有著另一種懷舊的味道,後來在九十年代他「返娘家」替《號外拍劉燁做封面,突顯出那件恤衫繽紛燦爛的色彩,散發出一地中海 / 西西里式的熱帶風情,是商業,但依然有 edge
 
 
現時找名人藝人拍封面,幾乎已有一條公式去跟隨,例如身上衣物無一不是由廣告商贊助指定,擺什麼 pose 也一定要經過在場監察一切的藝人幕後團隊同意,最後還有電腦把關執到靚靚,出來的效果肯定完美,但已再沒有一種 alive 的感覺,所以沒法不懷念以前李志超拍號外那個年代那份活潑、不拘教條,「乜都敢死」而藝人亦都樂於共同去「冒險」的精神,而這種 attitude 似乎在我城已悄悄消失了。
 
 
 
李志超將原文節譯成英文:
During the heyday of Hong Kong City Magazine in the 80s, Julian Lee was given a free hand to develop the magazine Book B called Private Eye which almost became his private playground with visual experimentation. And Julian’s portraiture during this period is always interesting and inundated with creativity. Not triumphing through professional quality, yet full of enthusiasm, his most daring exercise is a fresh and undressed Zhang Yimou, the Chinese famous film director, portraying himself as a likeness of Mishima. The sexy look redeems his camp pose, and the photograph is now definitely a collector’s item.
 
Through his lens, Julian captures the flair of artistry with portraits of film directors like Patrick Tam and John Woo. Superstar Andy Lau is reframed as a young poet. Another interesting interpretation portrays Eddie Ko, the kung-fu actor, as a cultured orchestra conductor. Gay Icon Anthony Wong gets nostalgically glamorous. His last portrait for City Magazine was of Liu Ye, in a colorful shirt, oozing a Mediterranean and Sicilian charm, but retaining his edginess despite his fame from commercial films.
 
Nowadays when all celebrity portraiture follower formula of wearing a sponsored label, with each pose approved by a management team, the result is computer retouched perfection, which suffocates the life of the subject.We cannot but reminiscence on the undoctrinaire and no-holds-barred attitude of Julian Lee’s City Magazine portraits, the daring of his experiments, and the complete commitment of the celebrities who were carried away into his photographic adventure.
 
 
 
李志超感性破格三十年回顧展
2014 9 6-30
星期一至六  12-7pm
九龍塘達康路18號邵逸夫創意媒體中心三褸