Name: 這張照片讓林肯成為總統嗎？| 文森特-布朗的《大圖片》 | PBS (Did This Photo Make Lincoln President? | The Bigger Picture with Vincent Brown | PBS)
Uploaded: 2024-08-15T09:03:13.000Z
Duration: 11 min 23 s

In politics today, it's hard to underestimate the power of image-making.

在當今政治領域，形象塑造的力量不容小覷。

分詞構句

During campaigns, we're deluged with photographs of candidates, carefully chosen to shape public opinion.

在競選期間，我們會收到大量精心挑選的候選人照片，以引導公眾輿論。

情態助動詞 B1

We might think of this as a new phenomenon, but far from it.

我們可能會認為這是一種新現象，但其實遠非如此。

Take this portrait of Abraham Lincoln from 1860.

就拿這幅 1860 年的林肯肖像來說吧。

It looks like a straightforward image of one of America's greatest presidents, but as we'll discover, this portrait is a turning point in the history of campaign photography.

這看起來只是美國最偉大的總統之一的一張普通肖像，但我們會發現，這張肖像是競選攝影史上的一個轉捩點。

It suggests that the use of photographs by political candidates is about as old as photography itself.

這表明，政治候選人使用照片的歷史與攝影本身一樣悠久。

In 1860, America was heading towards a pivotal presidential election.

1860 年，美國迎來了一次至關重要的總統大選。

The future of slavery would be on the ballot, and it threatened to tear the country apart.

奴隸制的未來將在選票上決定，這有可能使國家四分五裂。

Among the candidates for the Republican nomination was a self-taught lawyer from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln.

共和黨提名候選人中有一位來自伊利諾伊州的自學成才的律師，名叫亞伯拉罕-林肯。

It's hard to imagine now, but back then, his success was far from guaranteed.

現在很難想象，但在當時，他的成功還遠未得到保證。

In a crowded field of candidates, few people knew who Lincoln was, and those who did saw him as an uncouth frontiersman from the West.

在眾多候選人中，很少有人知道林肯是誰，而知道他的人則認為他是一個來自西部的粗魯的邊疆人。

So did Abraham Lincoln have an image problem?

那麼亞伯拉罕-林肯有形象問題嗎？

People in the East thought of him as sort of a slam-bang, rustic orator who spit in a spittoon, took off his jacket while he spoke.

在東方，人們認為他是那種 "砰砰 "作響的鄉土演說家，在痰盂裡吐痰，邊說邊脫外套。

They had misapprehensions about whether he was dignified enough to be a national candidate.

他們對他是否有足夠的尊嚴成為全國候選人產生了誤解。

To confront these concerns, Lincoln accepted an invitation to deliver a political lecture in New York City at an event that took place here at a private college known as the Cooper Union.

面對這些問題，林肯接受邀請，在紐約市一所名為庫珀聯盟（Cooper Union）的私立學院發表政治演講。

So what was Lincoln trying to achieve with this address?

那麼，林肯想通過這篇講話達到什麼目的呢？

So this is the place where Lincoln gave the most important speech of his career, the make-or-break moment of his political career, his national aspirations.

是以，林肯在這裡發表了他職業生涯中最重要的演講，這是他政治生涯和民族抱負的決定性時刻。

On February 27, 1860, Lincoln stood at this very podium, shuffled his notes, and addressed the crowd.

1860 年 2 月 27 日，林肯就站在這個講臺上，一邊整理筆記，一邊向民眾發表演說。

He starts out with his Western accent and his voice pitched a little too high and not carrying well.

他一開始就帶著西方口音，嗓音有點高，帶不起來。

And there is a journalist in the front row here who makes a note, Old man, this will never do, this is New York.

坐在前排的一位記者寫道："老人家，這絕對不行，這裡是紐約。

And by the time he finishes, he writes a second notation, I think he's the greatest man since St.

當他寫完後，他又寫了第二份筆記，我認為他是自聖彼得大教堂以來最偉大的人。

Lincoln's speech may have won the audience over that night, but he still had a problem.

當晚，林肯的演講可能贏得了聽眾，但他仍然有一個問題。

Did his looks have anything to do with that problem?

I mean, he was an ungainly-looking fellow, and photographs don't tell the half of it.

我是說，他長得其貌不揚，照片還不能說明一切。

He had acne scars from his childhood, he had moles all over his face, he had weird features, you know, giant ears, a big blunt nose, kind of a Jay Leno jaw, his hair stood up in all directions.

他有童年留下的痤瘡疤痕，滿臉都是痣，五官怪異，你知道的，巨耳、大鈍鼻、有點像傑-雷諾（Jay Leno）的下巴，頭髮四散豎起。

And he joked about his appearance publicly, famously during the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

在林肯-道格拉斯辯論中，他曾公開拿自己的外表開玩笑，這一點非常著名。

Douglas accused him of being two-faced, and Lincoln said, if I had another face, do you think I'd be wearing this one?

道格拉斯指責他是兩面派，林肯說，如果我有另一張臉，你認為我會戴著這張臉嗎？

Fortunately, Lincoln was about to get some help.

幸運的是，林肯即將得到一些幫助。

Hours before he gave his speech, his supporters had booked time with one of the best-known photographers in New York City, Matthew Brady.

在他發表演講前幾個小時，他的支持者們與紐約市最著名的攝影師之一馬修-布拉迪（Matthew Brady）預約了時間。

Matthew Brady was a well-established, in fact, internationally-known portrait photographer at the time that he photographed Abraham Lincoln.

馬修-布雷迪在拍攝林肯時是一位久負盛名的肖像攝影師，實際上是國際知名的肖像攝影師。

In other words, this would have been like having your portrait taken by someone like Annie Leibovitz today.

換句話說，這就像今天由安妮-萊博維茨（Annie Leibovitz）為你拍攝肖像一樣。

Brady courted the famous, encouraged them to come.

布雷迪向名人示好，鼓勵他們前來。

He was very aware of the camera's ability as a tool of history, and he basically cast himself, in a sense, as a historian with a camera, that he felt that preserving the faces of the individuals who were impacting the nation's direction in history was an important role to play.

他非常瞭解攝影機作為歷史工具的能力，從某種意義上說，他基本上把自己塑造成了一個帶著攝影機的歷史學家，他認為保存那些在歷史上影響國家走向的人的面孔是一個重要的角色。

In this awkward Illinois attorney, Brady faced one of his greatest artistic challenges.

在這位尷尬的伊利諾伊州律師身上，布雷迪面臨著他最嚴峻的藝術挑戰之一。

How did Brady actually compose this photograph to address Lincoln's image problem?

布雷迪究竟是如何創作這張照片來解決林肯的形象問題的？

He's standing, looking in the direction of the camera, but not straight into it, sort of eye on the horizon, looking off a little bit.

他站著，望著鏡頭的方向，但不是直視鏡頭，眼睛盯著地平線，稍稍偏離了一點。

It almost gives you that sense of Lincoln thinking deeper thoughts or looking toward the future.

它幾乎讓你感覺到林肯在思考更深層次的問題或展望未來。

That also implies something about a thoughtful person.

And Brady decides brilliantly, I'm going to put a background of a pillar of state and some books to suggest metaphorically that this is a learned man.

布雷迪的決定很有創意，我準備用一根國柱和幾本書作為背景，隱喻這是一個博學的人。

He's not going to focus on that craggy, scarred, mole-filled face.

他不會把注意力放在那張滿是疤痕和痣的猙獰面孔上。

He's going to pull back and got his massive frame and emphasize that this is a really big, strong man.

他要往後拉，露出他那龐大的身軀，強調這是一個真正高大強壯的男人。

And then at the last minute, Brady says to Lincoln, will you pull your collar up?

最後關頭，布雷迪對林肯說，你能把領子豎起來嗎？

And Lincoln looks at him and says, oh, I see you want to shorten my neck.

林肯看著他說，哦，我知道你想縮短我的脖子。

And here is, for the first time, a dignified, imposing Abraham Lincoln.

在這裡，第一次出現了一個莊重、威嚴的亞伯拉罕-林肯。

Taking this photograph was just the first step in making Lincoln appear electable.

拍攝這張照片只是讓林肯看起來有可能當選的第一步。

The next step was to make sure people saw it.

It wasn't technologically possible at this point to reproduce an image photographically in the popular press.

在大眾媒體上用照片複製影像在技術上是不可能的。

So an artist working from a photograph would be the way that you would produce an image in a popular publication such as Harper's Weekly.

是以，藝術家根據照片進行創作的方式，就是在《哈珀週刊》等大眾出版品上製作影像的方式。

Harper's Weekly was one of America's most widely read and influential political magazines.

哈珀週刊》是美國讀者最多、影響最大的政治雜誌之一。

If we compare this photographic image of Lincoln to the artist's rendering of the same image, you can see what it looked like when a subscriber or purchaser on the street bought Harper's Weekly.

如果我們將林肯的照片與藝術家對同一形象的渲染進行比較，就能看到街上的訂戶或購買者購買《哈珀週刊》時的樣子。

This is how they would have encountered Abraham Lincoln.

他們就會這樣遇到亞伯拉罕-林肯。

You can see also that it does say photographed by Brady.

您還可以看到，上面確實寫著由 Brady 拍攝。

Harper's Weekly played an important role in getting Brady's image in front of the public, but it wasn't the only way it circulated.

哈珀週刊》在讓布雷迪的形象出現在公眾面前方面發揮了重要作用，但這並不是其傳播的唯一途徑。

Technological advances were opening up other opportunities.

Among them, a new format known as the carte de visite, the first mass-produced photographs to become widely available.

其中包括一種被稱為 "carte de visite "的新格式，這也是第一種廣泛普及的批量生產的照片。

It reminds me of the baseball cards I had when I was a kid.

這讓我想起了小時候的棒球卡。

This particular format was introduced in the United States in 1859.

這種特殊的格式於 1859 年引入美國。

These could be very easily produced, and they were inexpensive.

這些產品非常容易生產，而且價格低廉。

This is what really is sort of the democratization, I think, of photography, is this ability for a very low price to not only have your own portrait and portraits of your friends and family made, but also to be able to collect images of the people who are leading the nation.

我認為，這才是真正的攝影民主化，不僅能以低廉的價格為自己和親朋好友拍攝肖像，還能收集國家領導人的照片。

It makes them real as people, in a sense.

從某種意義上說，這讓他們成為了真實的人。

Most Americans were never going to see Abraham Lincoln in person, but now they could actually own a photograph of him that was the closest they were going to get to having that in-person experience.

大多數美國人都不可能親眼見到林肯，但現在他們可以擁有一張林肯的照片，這是最接近親眼見到林肯的體驗了。

By the time of the election, Brady's image of Lincoln had been widely circulated.

到大選時，布雷迪的林肯形象已廣為流傳。

The photograph did its job amazingly, because in the 1860 campaign, he did no campaigning.

這張照片的作用令人驚歎，因為在 1860 年的競選中，他沒有進行任何競選活動。

The Cooper Union image appeared everywhere.

Without the photograph and the appearance at Cooper Union, he might not have been elected.

如果沒有這張照片和在庫珀聯盟的亮相，他可能就不會當選。

Today, the impact of this photograph on U.S. history is clear, and not just because it helped get Lincoln elected.

今天，這張照片對美國曆史的影響顯而易見，這不僅僅是因為它幫助林肯當選。

How do you describe the role this photo plays in the history of campaign photography?

您如何評價這張照片在競選攝影史上的作用？

This photograph serves as a kind of launching point for the idea that presidents not only can but should take some control over their political image, and that control has to start in the process of the campaigns.

這幅照片是一種觀點的出發點，即總統不僅可以，而且應該對自己的政治形象進行一定的控制，而這種控制必須從競選過程中開始。

Among the presidents who applied this lesson, just a few decades after Lincoln, was Teddy Roosevelt.

就在林肯之後的幾十年裡，泰迪-羅斯福（Teddy Roosevelt）就是運用這一經驗的總統之一。

Roosevelt, as a political figure, campaigning or not, is a really interesting kind of hinge guy.

羅斯福作為一個政治人物，無論是否參加競選，都是一個非常有趣的鉸鏈人物。

Here he's not running for anything, but he is building his political image.

在這裡，他不是在競選什麼，而是在樹立自己的政治形象。

So this is a photograph where Roosevelt, rich guy from the East Coast, is trying to show us he is something else.

在這張照片中，來自東海岸的富翁羅斯福試圖向我們展示他的與眾不同。

So that when he begins his political career, everyone has this image of this guy in mind.

這樣，當他開始自己的政治生涯時，每個人心中都會有這個人的形象。

And then later in his life, what candidates benefit from by the time we've moved into the early 20th century is the way that photography can be more candid.

在他的晚年，當我們進入 20 世紀初的時候，候選人從中受益的是攝影可以更加坦率。

So you feel like you're at the event with Roosevelt in this photo because he's reacting in a really natural way.

在這張照片中，你會覺得自己和羅斯福一起參加了活動，因為他的反應非常自然。

So he brings us from, you know, I'm going to pose myself formally as I want you to see me, to any picture you take of me will be fantastic because it will echo everything you think I'm about.

是以，他把我們從 "我要擺出正式的姿勢，希望你能看到我 "帶到 "你給我拍的任何照片都會很棒，因為它將與你認為我的一切相呼應"。

Fast forward 100 years, when the latest technological revolution created opportunities for another little-known candidate from Illinois, Barack Obama.

快進到 100 年前，最新的技術革命為來自伊利諾伊州的另一位鮮為人知的候選人巴拉克-奧巴馬創造了機會。

The campaigns that understand those moments when technology is changing are the ones that often do better and are more successful.

瞭解技術變革時刻的活動往往做得更好，也更成功。

In 2008, the Obama campaign took great advantage of the rise of social media, the rise of mobile photography, digital photography, and they integrated into a really successful campaign so that by the time Obama becomes president, right, he is the selfie president.

2008 年，奧巴馬的競選團隊充分利用了社交媒體的興起、手機攝影和數碼攝影的興起，並將其整合到一場非常成功的競選活動中，是以當奧巴馬成為總統時，對，他就是自拍總統。

He is not only a person to photograph, but a person to be photographed with.

他不僅是一個值得拍攝的人，也是一個值得被拍攝的人。

So obviously there are major differences between these two photos, but do you think there are similarities in the strategies that these men were using to campaign for president?

顯然，這兩張照片之間存在很大差異，但你認為這兩人競選總統的策略有相似之處嗎？

Photographically, these images couldn't be more different, as you say, but at their core they're really very, very similar.

正如你所說，從照片上看，這些影像再不同不過了，但它們的核心其實是非常非常相似的。

Lincoln is trying to show us who he is and who he wants to be, and Obama is also giving us the version of himself that works photographically.

林肯試圖向我們展示他是誰，他想成為什麼樣的人，而奧巴馬也在向我們展示照片上的自己。

Whether it's Lincoln in 1860 or Obama, it's essentially the same set of questions that we should be asking ourselves, is why was this picture made, why am I seeing it, who wants me to see it, and for what reasons?

無論是 1860 年的林肯還是奧巴馬，我們都應該問自己同樣的問題：為什麼要拍這部電影，為什麼我要看這部電影，誰想讓我看這部電影，原因是什麼？

It's too easy to think of photography as just the mere transmission of transparent information or emotion or experience.

人們很容易認為攝影僅僅是傳遞透明的資訊、情感或體驗。