Vincent Van Gogh的向日葵畫作系列(Vase with 14 Sunflowers)藉此向他致敬。
梵高是我最喜愛的其中一位畫家，他既熱愛創作、更熱愛生命；他以有限又不如意的短促生命積極地從事繪畫創作，留給後世豐盛的藝術文化果實。

作品一＂Vase with 16 Sunflowers ＂ #Photographer & Creative: #Eden Man /Flower arrangement: Mandy Chiu/ Production crew: Hay Lee and Steven Shiu

近日幫Mabushi品牌的 LED 照明系統拍了張宣傳用相片，今次拍攝的主題是向曰葵，創作靈感來自Vincent Van Gogh的向日葵畫作系列，(Vase with 14 Sunflowers)藉此向他致敬。
梵高是我最喜愛的其中一位畫家，他既熱愛創作、更熱愛生命；他以有限又不如意的短促生命積極地從事繪畫創作，留給後世豐盛的藝術文化果實。他的向日葵系列畫作很有代表性，我們都知道向日葵的花冠是會跟隨陽光的照射而移動，我對它那向光性的反應非常著迷,我特別欣賞梵高在1888年繪畫了一系列的向日葵畫作為他的"黃屋"的室內裝飾,並以這些畫作來向他欣賞的畫家高更（Gaugain)示好，向日葵就是梵高的友誼之手，梵高用上不同狀態的向日葵作畫，有盛放的、有凋零的、有完整的、有缺花瓣的、有畢直的、也有彎曲的；然而不論怎樣狀態的向日葵!，全都是美的呈現。梵高藉著向日葵的不同歷程及形態來喻意人生，人不論貧富、不論年齡、不論外貌,他們都各自有其價值與意義,所有生命都是美好的，都需要善待,愛護,尊重和欣賞.（註一）。
註一（他25歲時曾經在荷蘭的Borinage煤礦區做傳道員時，為了幫助貧困的礦區人民，把自己所有的金錢、食物、衣服分派清光...繼後還做了很多自我犧牲的事希望可以改善礦民的生活，可惜到最後還是無功而退，並懷疑宗教對世人的教贖能力，及後他對繪畫發生濃厚興趣，並以此去繼續燃點他的生命。）

The creative inspiration for these artworks derives from the series of Sunflower paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. By adopting photography as a medium, the composition and colour of these photographs mimic Van Gogh's Vase with 14 Sunflowers, and presents as tribute to the great artist.
Van Gogh is one of my favourite painters. He has a feverish passion for creativity and love for life; in his fleeting and less-than-fortunate lifetime, he dedicated himself to painting. Then, in a burst of incandescent productivity, he founded a new style of painting that changed art forever.
His series of sunflower paintings is considered one of the most influential artwork of all times. It is well known that sunflowers track the direction of sunlight, and I am in awe with its sensitivity towards light. In particular, I admire the series of sunflower paintings he painted in 1888 to welcome his friend Gaugain’s arrival. To Van Gogh, sunflowers represent friendship. In his works, the flowers were at various forms. Some were in full bloom, some were wilted; some were in perfect formation, while some were damaged; some were straight, while some were bent. Yet, these all presented Van Gogh’s truthful record and his expression of beauty. He used the life cycle of sunflowers as a metaphor for life – beauty is abounded in all creation, which needs to be cherish and loved. Irrespective of wealth, age and appearance, life is prized with meaning for each individual. (At the age of 25, Van Gogh worked as a lay preacher in a Belgian coal mining community in Borinage. In order to help the poor, he made a lot of self-sacrifice. He gave away all his clothes, food as well as the little money he made. However, his over-zealously devotion to his duties ended with the authorities’ decision to terminate his ministry. This disappointment amid the increasingly skeptical environment of the period contributed to shaking his faith. Thereafter, he developed a strong interest in drawing and continued to persevere along the difficult vocational path of art.)

作品二＂The Phenix Feather with Sunflowers" Photographer & Creative: Eden Man /Production crew: Marco Lee


諷刺的是梵高活在一個容不下他的時代，他自我風格太強烈、畫作在當時沒有市場，狂熱而不可抑制的創作激情像烈火焚燒他的內心，他心力交瘁，精神臨於崩潰。1890年7月梵高在麥田中吞槍自殺，後因傷重不治，享年37歲。梵高雖然逝去，然而他的畫作卻不斷地壯大並哺育著往後的藝術界，梵高脫離自身軀殼的朿縛化作火鳳凰讓自己的思想、創作理念得到自由, 他的創作精神得以再生,並不斷地發光發熱. 對日後的表現主義影響深遠.
故此我的另一張向日葵攝影作品( The Phenix feather with Sunflowers) 是有一片鳳凰的羽毛輕盈飄落在向日葵的花蕊上，喻意梵高須遠去然而他的藝術精神、不息的創作成就、却像鳳凰一樣化作灰燼後又再重生；並永續於人世間。


作品二 是另一燈光處理方法，我用的是一枝Vortex的TS1 LED type daylight 的電筒，在暗黑的環境中用作唯一的照明，（Playing with light painting）拍攝時快門用上約50秒的開啓時間，不停地用光遊走於向日葵和背景間，去營造多變化的光影效果（運用不同角度的逆光為主、及較細小的照射範圍和多變化的亮度作照明）。其中在曝光背景時我用上分層曝光法，即在照明綠色背景的十二秒內，我放置上一半透明有紋理的紗布於鏡頭和向日葵間使背景產生光影的變化與及柔焦效果；當照明花朵時則已把它移走；故花㭆能夠保持清晰.
Ironically, he remained under-appreciated during his lifetime. People dismissed his art as the work of an eccentric. Fanatic, unappeasable passions swept through his self-defeating life. In July 1890, at the age of 37, he shot himself in the wheat field and died of his wounds. Despite his death, his belief and assertion of personality, left the boundary of his flesh and transpired into paint. His creativity was reborn like a phoenix arising from the ashes of its predecessor. His art was a record of his life, which continues to inspire artists in generations following.

another version: (Longer exposure time of background then make it lighter and more diffused, so it affected the brightness and sunflowers sharpness)

Video:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~END~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~