美國之道──Stephen Shore的公路攝影

Exploring the American Way: Stephen Shore''s Road Photographs

王涵智(Han-chih Wang)

指導教授 ： 曾少千

國立中央大學/文學院/藝術學研究所/碩士(2008年)

摘要

本論文主要將探究美國的公路攝影，「美國之道」（the American way）的「道」不僅直指美國的公路，也指涉一種獨到的美國文化和美學。另外，它更可能暗示了一種美國特有的攝影類型，攝影史中一種充滿美式價值的藝術內容。主要的中心論旨有二：首先，提出公路攝影作為一種攝影類型的可能性，使其成為一種觀看和理解方式。其次，以此攝影類型作為研究基礎，將提供內涵與線索而有助於解讀Stephen Shore（1947－ ）的公路攝影系列《美國表面》（American Surfaces）和《不尋常之處》（Uncommon Places），兩者如何構成Shore自身創作歷程與公路攝影類型的脈絡性？

本文首先將耙梳公路攝影的傳統，包括了1930年代的Dorothea Lange（1895－1965）和其《美國出谷記：一部人類蝕化的紀錄》，以及在二戰之後1950年代的Robert Frank（1924－ ）和其《美國人》。透過回溯兩個不同的時代，將提供公路攝影發展的脈絡，以作為我們探究Shore的作品之索引。接續則討論Shore在1960年代的藝術養成和1970年的《公路》專題展對於公路藝術的關注。從Shore的《美國表面》不僅可看出普普藝術的後續效應，作品也傾向隨機性的展現，有如業餘的快拍。而從《美國表面》到《不尋常之處》間Shore的拍攝手法與問題意識有所轉變，構成了不同的觀看方式。另外，公路的流行圖像也對於公路攝影家有所啟發。Shore藉由《不尋常之處》的主題內容延續了先前的公路攝影傳統，並且拓展新局，體現真切的公路情境。最後，本文將處理1970年代與Shore同時期的攝影家對於在地風景的呈現，包括與Shore共同參與《新地誌：一種人為改變之風景的相片》的Robert Adams（1937－ ），以及和Shore同時期將藝術攝影彩色化的William Eggleston（1939－ ），還有Joel Sternfeld（1944－ ）同樣藉由公路旅行與大型相機拍攝的《美國眺望》。透過參照彼此的相互關係，幫助我們重現當時的時代氛圍，並推敲出Shore在攝影史中的關鍵地位。

公路攝影是複雜的，它蘊含了美國歷史、文化、社會等層面的問題，並且持續進行著，呈現出和公路相關的各種觀察與體驗。Shore的公路攝影展現其時代性，也證實了美國攝影既有的公路傳統與持續演化的形式語彙。

關鍵字

公路攝影 ； Stephen Shore ； 美國研究 ； 視覺文化 ； 紀錄攝影 ； 風景攝影

並列摘要

This thesis focuses on the American road photography. The title “The American way” implies both American highway and the typical American culture and aesthetic. It also suggests a unique genre of Americanism in the history of photography. My arguments are as follows. First, the road photography should be considered as a genre, and it can provide a way of viewing and perception. Second, the study of this genre also offers implications and clues to interpret Stephen Shore’s road photographs in his American Surfaces and Uncommon Places and the contextualization constructing in Shore’s own artistic career and the history of road photography.

The first chapter examines the tradition of the road photography, including both Dorothea Lange’s (1895-1965) American Exodus: A Record of Human Erosion (1939) in the 1930s and Robert Frank’s (1924- ) Les Américains (1958) / The Americans (1959) in the 1950s postwar period. By retracing the work from two different decades, the study offers the contexts of the development of the road photography and guides us to analyze Shore’s works. In the second chapter, we will discuss Shore’s artistic experiences in the 1960s, the Highway: An Exhibition in 1970 and Shore’s later American Surfaces. Shore’s American Surfaces infers a follow-up of the Pop art. It reveals spontaneity and intentionally resembles the amateurish snapshots. However, Shore’s photographic approach and concern, which have partially changed from American Surfaces to Uncommon Places, composes a different way of viewing. Besides, the popular images upon the road also inspire road photographers. Through Uncommon Places, Shore maintained the tradition established by his predecessors. He also explored the frontiers and embodied the authentic situation on the road. In the last chapter, I will argue the demonstration of the vernacular landscape in 1970s presented by Shore and his contemporaries. It includes Robert Adams (1937- ) and the exhibition New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-altered Landscape (1975) which contains both Robert Adams’s and Shore’s works. In addition, it is William Eggleston (1939- ) that brought color into the art photography together with Shore at the same time. Furthermore, Joel Sternfeld’s (1944- ) American Prospects (1987) is completed by similar road trips and the large format camera with Shore. By comparing the interrelation of these photographers do help us not only reconstruct the atmosphere of that time, but also clarify Shore’s key position in the history of photography.

Road photography is complex due to various aspects of history, culture and society of the United States. It is still an ongoing art which displays observations and experiences related to the highway. Shore’s road photographs manifest the zeitgeist, and also demonstrate the tradition on the road and the visual vocabularies that continue to develop.

並列關鍵字

Road Photography ； American Study ； Visual Culture ； Documentary Photography ； Landscape Photography ； Stephen Shore

參考文獻

王涵智，〈美國公路攝影初探（1935-1980）〉，《議藝份子》8，2006，頁117-139。

American Automobile Association. Americans on the Highway. Washington, American Automobile Association, 1937.

Bruce Silverstein Gallery. Topographics: Photographs from 1844 to the Present. New York, N.Y.: Bruce Silverstein Gallery, 2004.

Eauclaire, Sally. The New Color Photography. New York: Abbeville Press, 1981.

Eggleston, William. William Eggleston: Los Alamos. Zürich; New Yok: SCALO; New York City: Distributed by DAP, 2003.