I'm often asked why I do art, what do I want to say with my art photography, and what is the use of it?
我常被问到为什么要做艺术？我想用我的艺术摄影表达什么？它有什么用？
Once in a while I start to worry how to actually measure the impact from the art like we do with medicine or technology,
有时，我会开始担心，到底要如何测量艺术的影响，像我们对药品或科技那样测量，
where we can see the results and calculate it.
能够看到结果且能够计算它。
Then I would finally be able to explain to my mother my art with real numbers.
接着，我终于能够用真正的数字来向我母亲解释我的艺术了。
But my art is so far from metrics, and moreover, my photography is widely exposing the theme of escapism.
但我的艺术和度量尺度差得很远，此外，我的摄影是在广泛地让逃避主义曝光。
My theory is that all of us struggle sometimes to escape in order to analyze our reality, appreciate it or change.
我的理论是，我们所有人有些时候都会挣扎，会想逃离，是为了能够分析我们的现实，欣赏它，或是做改变。
I don't work with daily life as it is, and I'm not a documentary photographer in the common sense.
我并不会把日常生活，现在的样子拿来创作，且从一般的意义来看，我不是纪录片摄影师。
But I am a documentary photographer in a different sense. I document dreams.
但从不同的意义上来看，我是纪录片摄影师。我纪录的是梦。
I work with daily life as it could be, as I imagine it. I am a daydreamer,
我会把日常生活可以成为的样子、我想象的样子，拿来创作。我是个做白日梦的人，
but at the same time I love things that are authentic and deal with our innermost nature, which I would never want to escape from.
但同时，我也爱真实的事物，且我在处理的是我们最深处的本性，我永远不会想逃离它。
I adore complicated personalities, and real life inspires me to create my images.
我钟爱复杂的人格，真实人生鼓舞我创作我的影像。
Real life inspires our escape, and sometimes that escape is very needed.
真实人生鼓舞了我们的逃离，有时，那样的逃离是很必要的。
I believe heroes are not created easily,
我相信，英雄不是能轻易创造出来的，
and I choose to work with individuals who are survivors and facing everyday routines that are not always full of color,
我创作选择的合作对象，是幸存者，他们要面对每日的惯例，而这些惯例并非总是色彩丰富，
people who are on their way to a better life, fighting against life circumstances.
我的对象，是那些正在追寻更好人生的人，他们对抗着人生的境遇。
Why do I choose people like that for my models?
我为什么选择那样的人当我的模特儿？
Because I've been in that position myself, when I had to learn how to survive in real life.
因为我自己也曾经是那样的，我得要学习如何在真实人生中存活。
I was a student living abroad in London. I was working at two places at the same time as a waitress.
我曾是住在伦敦的外国学生。我兼两份差，当女服务生。
Obviously that wasn't my dream job, but I decided to play a game where I imagined that I am taking a role in a film,
显然那并非我梦想的工作，但我决定要玩一个游戏，在游戏中，我要想象我在一部电影中扮演一个角色，
and in the film I am a waitress, and I need to act great.
在电影中，我是女服务生，我得要做出色的演出。
I used to dye my hair and brows to gingerette, I changed my hair to curly perm,
我以前会把头发和眉毛染成姜黄色，我烫卷发，
I lost weight and made myself believe I am just a character acting in a film.
我减重，并让我自己相信我只是在电影中演戏的一个角色。
That isn't forever, that is all just temporary. That helped me a lot.
那并不是永远的，全都只是暂时的。这对我帮助很大。
It motivated me to change my life and take a hard time as a game.
让我有动力去改变我的人生，把辛苦的时刻当游戏来看待。
Now, as an artist, I am creating different lives for my models
现在，身为艺术家，我会为我的模特儿创造不同的人生，
in order to give them the experience of being someone else in reality.
目的是要让他们体验在现实中成为别人是怎么样的。
Through the photographic process, all of my models become like silent movie actors.
透过摄影处理，我所有的模特儿都变成像是默片中的演员。

They are captured at the moment when they believe in being someone else entirely.
当他们完全相信他们就是另一个人的那一刻，他们被捕捉下来。
In order to create a new reality in its entirety,
为了要创造出一个完整的新现实，
I physically create every single thing in my work, sometimes from outfits to the stage.
我亲手创造了我作品中的每一样东西，有时是舞台上的服装。
Because I work with analogues, and I don't make any digital manipulations to my photographs,
因为我用模拟，我的照片不会做任何数字的处理。
I need everything to take place in reality, in spite of the fact that nowadays, digitally, you can create pretty much everything.
我需要一切都在现实中发生，尽管现今用数字方式几乎可以创造出任何东西。
I don't like this path. Even if that reaches perfection,
我不喜欢这条路。即使那样能达到完美，
I see the beauty in authenticity of making, and that's impossible without flaws.
我看见的是在真实制作当中的美丽，那不可能没有瑕疵。
A digitally manipulated photograph is not true for me.
用数字处理过的照片对我来说不是真的。
It doesn't capture anything real. It's not experienced, not motivating.
它没有捕捉到任何真实性。它没有被经历，它没有激发力。
It's like, instead of going traveling, you look at someone else's travel photographs.
就像是，你没有实际去旅行，而是去看别人旅行时拍的照片。
What I find so exciting is the ability to make people's dreams of being someone else a reality.
让我很兴奋的是，我有能力让人们成为他人的梦想得以实现。
That's like a drug which pushes me to keep working, even without metrics.
那就像毒品一样，它逼着我持续工作，即使没有度量尺度。
One of my models had always dreamed of being seen as a warrior, but she wasn't able to do sports because of her health problems.
我的其中一位模特儿一直都梦想着被当成战士来看待，因为健康问题，她无法运动。
Half a year ago, she passed away from heart disease at the age of 22.
半年前，她过世了，死因是心脏病，死时才22岁。
But two days before her death, the images we spent months working on together of her as a warrior she dreamed of becoming
但在她过世前两天，我们一起花了数个月的时间在处理她扮演梦想中的战士的那些照片，
were published at a large exhibition in Milan by Vogue Magazine.
那些照片被《VOGUE》杂志在米兰的一个大型展览中发表了。
All her life was about overcoming.
她的一生都在克服。
Before she died, she had known that thousands of people saw her image from the land of escapism
她过世前，她知道数以千计的人看到了她身在逃离之地的影像，
and believed in her as a brave and fearless warrior.
并相信她就是个勇敢且无惧的战士。
For my work, I invite people to play a game like we all used to as children
我创作时，我会邀请人们来玩一个游戏，就像我们儿时玩的游戏，
when we pretend to be someone else and that process made us really happy.
我们假装自己是别人，那过程让我们十分快乐。
To my mind it is important for grown-ups. We need these transformations to enact this in the name of art.
我认为，那对成人是很重要的。我们需要这些转变，以艺术之名来让这部戏上演。
It gives us the very real feeling of being important and powerful in order to influence our reality.
它能给我们非常真实的感受，感到重要性和力量，而能够影响到我们的现实。
I know this from my own personal experience.
我从我自己的个人经验学到这些。
I have had so many versions of myself through my self-portraits that I've been many different characters.
我有过好多版本的我，透过我的自我肖像作品，我扮演过许多不同的角色。
Being someone else in the land of escapism doesn't exactly give us numbers that we can gauge,
在逃离之地扮演另一个人并不会给予我们可以量测的数字，
but it's like a real lost form of magic which exists but can't be measured.
但它就像是魔法，以一种已遗失的形式呈现，魔法是存在的，但无法测量。
There is a unique power in art to transform and lift our limits.
艺术中有一种独特的力量，能转变和解除我们的限制。
Art creates what I call a conjured life, which helps our existence
艺术能创造出我所谓的“召唤出来的人生”，它能协助我们的存在，
and pushes, motivates and inspires us to dwell and express ourselves without metrics or calculations. Thank you.
推动我们、激励我们、鼓舞我们去思索和表述我们自己，不用度量尺度或计算。谢谢。