Hot Shots/熱X像, 2021

Photo installation

Portrait photography follows the convention from painting, it shows the subject through the operator’s hand. As a result, the audience eventually doesn’t care how authentic is it, because the portrait contains the operator’s point of view and emotion about the person captured. When photography is not about painting or even arts, it runs to the surface of reality, the portrait becomes a record of the government, the landscape is a reference for strategy making, and still-life proof something in the judicial process.
Today, imaging technology is rampant, it is wide enough to affect all levels of society. In 2020, the portrait turned into a part of the big data in life. Appearance, time, temperature, location becomes the exchange of everyday life. Thus, our appearance becomes more valuable than ever. At the same time, photography continues to exploit us, makes those involuntary photographic actions as comfortable as breathing.
I purchased a thermal camera that is common in public and took it out to measure body temperature whenever there were occasions. People were quite  "cooperative", it seems that everyone despises the value of a portrait.

以往的俏像攝影都承襲了繪畫傳統，操作者在媒介上呈現主角的某一面向。結果，肖像或多或少的展示操作者的情感及觀點，對於畫面中的人像的真實性，我們普遍也不會考究。然而當攝影脫離了繪畫（甚或藝術），攝影就如脫韁野馬的直接衝向現實的表面。俏像成為行政紀錄，地景（或風景）成為戰略參考，靜物成為司法證據。
如今，影像科技氾濫，應用層面之廣足以影響社會各個層面。二零二零年開始，俏像組成了生活中的大數據。外貌、時間、溫度、地點變成為交換日夜出勤的條件。如斯我們的外表，比以往變得更有價值。同時，攝影卻不斷剝削我們，強行令不自願的攝影行為變成如呼吸般那麼自在。
我購買了一台公眾場合常見的熱成像儀，每當遇到一些場合便會拿出來向場內人士量度體溫。人們都十分「合作」，看來大家都輕視了俏像的價值。