2020年经济学人 疫情的影像(3)

Her perspective inside the hospital was unique. But a series Mr Montgomery did at the Farenga Brothers Funeral Home in the Bronx involved even thornier¹ ethical² challenges. His images of the dead and their grieving relatives are meant to humanise the fact of mortality. They also restore the individuality of some of the pandemic’s many victims.

坎宁安从医院内部拍摄的视角是独特的。但蒙哥马利在位于布朗克斯的法伦加兄弟殡仪馆拍摄的影像引发了更为棘手的伦理问题。他拍摄的关于死者及其悲痛的亲属的作品意在使死亡的事实更加人性化。这些作品同时也复原了疫情的死难者的个性。

“The moral issues were huge,” acknowledges Kathy Ryan of the NYTM. “It’s not very often you see pictures dealing³ with the dead in our culture in this way.” In one image, editors blurred⁴ out a name-tag attached to a body bag. The series includes open coffins⁵ and refrigerated corpse⁶ trucks, but the most graphic⁷ scenes were omitted. The Purewals, the family at the centre of the shoot, were willing to be photographed as a way of honouring their late father. For some who were unable to give their loved ones proper funerals, Mr Montgomery’s pictures became a memorial.

《纽约时报》的凯西·瑞恩承认：“这些作品涉及的道德问题非常重要。在我们的文化中，很少以这种方式处理死者的照片。”在一张照片中，编辑把附在尸袋上的姓名标签进行模糊处理。这一组照片中，有打开的棺材和冷藏运尸车，但最生动的镜头都被删除了。作为拍摄中心的普雷沃尔一家很乐意入镜，以此来缅怀已故的父亲。对于一些无法为亲人举办像样的葬礼的人来说，蒙哥马利拍摄的照片能为他们留个纪念。

What, for the West, has been an unusually intimate encounter with death has affected⁸ views on how suffering elsewhere in the world is portrayed⁹. In March, after seeing the devastation¹⁰ that covid-19 was causing in Lombardy, Nana Kofi Acquah, a Ghanaian photographer, posted an address to white journalists on Instagram. “Can you photograph Africa with the same level of respect and empathy?” he asked. Azu Nwagbogu, director of the African Artists’ Foundation, hopes the global nature of the pandemic will lead to a levelling in the way anguish¹¹ in different places is covered. “I think there’s now a clear understanding of the dignity and respect for human life that needs to be given to all patients.”

对于西方人来讲，这次与死亡非同寻常的亲密接触，影响了他们的一些看法，即世界其他地区所经历的苦难是如何报道的。三月，加纳摄影师娜娜·科菲·阿奎赫在目睹新冠肺炎病毒在伦巴第造成的危害后，在Instagram上发表了一封写给白人记者的信。“你能以同样的尊重和同情心来拍摄非洲的情况吗？”他问道。非洲艺术家基金会负责人阿祖·恩瓦格博古希望，记者们能够在疫情蔓延全球的情况下对不同地区的痛苦程度都加以报道。“我认为现在大家已经清楚地认识到需要给予所有的患者尊严和对生命的尊重。”

Pictures are, after all, one of the ways posterity¹² will remember the pandemic and the lives it disrupted. Arts institutions are already beginning to shape the way it will be seen—and they are not relying only on professionals. The National Portrait Gallery in London, for example, has received over 30,000 submissions¹³ for “Hold Still”, a community photography project launched in response to the virus. “I see people voicing gratitude¹⁴ and manifesting dreams about better times, lives and loves after lockdown,” Magda Keaney, a curator, says of the entries. Professionals still shape perceptions of crises, wrestling with their motives¹⁵ and responsibilities as they shoot. But they are no longer alone.

毕竟，照片只是其中一种记录手段，让后代们牢记这次疫情及其对生活的扰乱。艺术机构已经开始塑造疫情的呈现方式，而且已经不再仅仅依靠艺术专业人士了。例如，伦敦国家肖像美术馆已经收到了3万多张关于“Hold Still”的投稿照片，这是一项为抗击疫情发起的社区摄影项目。美术馆馆长马格达·基尼在谈到这些作品时说：“我看到人们都在表达感激之情，表达封闭后关于美好时光、美好生活以及美好爱情的梦想。”专业摄影师依旧塑造着人们对危机的认知，在拍摄的同时，内心的动机和肩负的责任相互博弈。但是他们不再孤军奋战。

1 thornier   

adj.多刺的( thorny的比较级 )；有刺的；棘手的；多障碍的

参考例句：

• Changing regulations, meanwhile, is even thornier. 与此同时，不断变化的法规更加棘手。 来自互联网
• The vote, on a procedural point, does not bode well for the passage of thornier legislation. 从程序上说，这次选举对更为棘手的立法进程来说并不是个好兆头。 来自互联网

2 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白

6 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

7 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

12 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。

13 submissions   

n.提交( submission的名词复数 )；屈从；归顺；向法官或陪审团提出的意见或论据

参考例句：

• The deadline for submissions to the competition will be Easter 1994. 递交参赛申请的截止时间为1994年的复活节。 来自辞典例句
• Section 556(d) allows the agency to substitute written submissions for oral direct testimony in rulemaking. 第五百五十六条第（四）款准允行政机关在规则制定中用书面提交材料替代口头的直接证言。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

14 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

15 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。