Civil Twilight
摄影是一种追魂的艺术，一种薄暮时分的艺术。
——苏珊·桑塔格《论摄影》
文：Yangyang Li
Civil twilight这一气象学术语指日落后或日出前，没有太阳却有余晖或曙光照亮的时刻。牟瀚林的摄影项目《Civil twilight》有关在这一段的晨昏交界时间在旧金山大洋海滩(Ocean Beach)附近消失的人。他的摄影图像为我们展现了自然美景背后的危险和哀思，同样也提醒我们对大自然的敬畏。
The photographs, though devoid of the sun, subtly capture its light bouncing off the waves, hinting at the dreamlike twilight hues.
Civil Twilight是一部摄影作品，通过一系列深刻而感性的图像剖析了大自然两面性之下的诱人魅力。该项目揭示了海洋海滩平静却充满危险的美，邀请观众在大自然的崇高之美与内在危险之间踏上微妙的平衡之旅。
带着在中国海边度过童年的记忆，艺术家反思了大自然力量的悲剧性现实，特别是在一位朋友的父亲因海浪的无情而丧生后，这一主题更具个人意义。该作品既与这种私人故事产生共鸣，也连接了集体意识，聚焦于海洋海滩上反复出现的失踪事件。
Civil Twilight的灵感来自一张令人心碎的失踪人员海报及随后的新闻揭露，深入探讨了这些悲剧事件背后未解的谜团。摄影师根据本地新闻报道精心重现场景，结合纪实与艺术诠释。其目的是揭示大自然诱人外表下潜藏的危险，同时探讨看似微不足道的生活细节如何演变为深刻的悲剧性叙事。
每一幅作品都拍摄于暮光交替的时刻，聚焦环境并模糊了人物的存在，使得图像充满神秘感。虽然画面中没有直射的阳光，但图像巧妙地捕捉了光线在海浪上的反射，唤起梦幻般的暮光色调。这个艺术决定既突出了暮光海洋的虚幻之美，又放大了那股持久的希望之光。尽管故事充满了悲剧色彩，但仍留存着那些失踪者可能仍然活着的希望。
Civil Twilight巧妙地对比了自然的美丽与威胁，捕捉了存在与消失之间那片稍纵即逝的瞬间。在压倒性的失落与绝望中，它点燃了一丝希望之光。
摄影师以旁观者的角度，用报纸、互联网等新闻渠道,重构当地新闻中出现的海边消失人口案件，对于这些受害者生前不久的场景进行猜测和重现，绝大多数都拍摄于civil twilight这一时段内。在他的镜头下，橙黄、金色、粉紫色在天空中交相辉映，倒映在看似宁静的大海上。人们在海滩上驻留、奔跑、嬉戏、玩耍，在海浪的泡沫中行走，或是相互交谈。
牟瀚林的镜头里不仅仅是海滩落日，更是传达这些图像背后的悲剧内核——在极具诗意的画面中，寄托了无限的哀伤。夕阳是一天光阴的弥留时刻。在漫天的余晖中，人们常常在黑暗来临前感受到对于光明和过去的追思。在观赏这一组摄影作品时，我们被提醒着：这有关一些人生命的最后时刻，美丽的风景常常也是危险的、不可触碰的。
The very medium of photography is the best proof of impermanence. The essence of the medium lies in the fragility, the changeability, the certainty of death of a person or an object, in freezing the moment in the flow of time and witnessing its passing. The photographs we have taken often take us back to a moment in time to which we can never return. This is how we remember our companions who have left us: the photographic image replaces the presence of the photographed as a substitute, which precisely proves the absence of the photographed. Hanlin Mu's images are a reproduction of the victims’ last moments, which is directly related to the theme of death and coincides with the nature of photography itself as a display of "absence" and immediacy. In the series, he makes extensive use of silhouettes, or makes the faces of the people not clearly visible, to convey the sense of fragmentation and incompleteness of the story. He divides the series into three groups of people —"One Woman", "Two Children", "The Victim". In anonymity the identity-based image becomes an index, pointing to the uncounted number of people who disappeared on the beach.
In Civil twilight, Hanlin Mu's technique of fictionalizing scenes based on real events is reminiscent of filmmaking. This work blurs the line between fiction and reality - creating virtual "real" photographic images based on real cases. When viewed, these "photographs of the final moments" are highly believable: children playing and dancing, surfers looking out into the unknown water, crowds on the beach, dogs chasing crows…… At this moment, the "documentary" nature of the photographic medium creates a subtle chemical reaction with its imagined essence.
In Anthropology of Images, Hans Belting refers to Cindy Sherman's photographic series Untitled Film Stills as a series of stereotypical on-screen images of women that confuse the viewer with the medium of the work, as the viewer mistakes the photographs for stills from Hollywood films of the 50s and 60s. As a fictional narrative, Civil twilight is highly believable, with shots of the characters in their natural state, but also environmental aerials and portrayal of their "remains": children's toys, sand-filled mineral water bottles filled with sand, lounge chairs on the beach, etc. At the same time, these images are taken with different photographic media - digital cameras, Polaroid, film - parodying the variety of news photographs and the diversity of channels for collecting information about the images and displaying varying degrees of clarity and quality. The series of photographs gives the false impression that this is a collection of news photo.
In Civil Twilight, the series of photographs leads one to believe that the photographs are news photographs, or still frames from a short documentary film. The series was originally printed in newspapers, a medium that embodies the ephemeral nature of time, and likewise parodies the medium of the news photograph. Reports of the missing only appear in the pages of that day's newspaper, a fleeting moment in time, and only the image proves that they once existed, but that the once existed is undeniably irrevocable.
All these characteristics construct an ambiguous relationship between Hanlin Mu's creative photography, photojournalism and authenticity. In the dance with authenticity, the images become more fragmented and fleeting. Nonetheless, in the final photograph of Civil twilight, the beach-side house reflects three rays of the sun, standing out against the darkness that envelops the beach. The waves bear witness to the daily changes; the sea is relentless. After darkness falls, humans still watch for the dead. Will any of their shadows migrate back to here again?
About Artist
An innovative fine art photographer driven by a true passion for capturing life's moments through a lens, with a strong background in fine art photography, graphic design, and digital marketing. As a freelance photographer, I have honed my skills through diverse projects that showcase my dedication to artistic expression and visual storytelling. Recently, I have expanded my expertise to include AI image generation using Midjourney, exploring the impact of technology on the future of photography. My unique blend of artistic background and cutting-edge technology skills enables me to create visually captivating and thought-provoking images that not only connect with audiences but also push the boundaries of the photographic medium.