美国国家公共电台 NPR Photography Writ Large: The Monumental Art Of Thomas Struth

Photography Writ¹ Large: The Monumental Art Of Thomas Struth 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0004:55repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser² to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. DAVID GREENE, HOST: 

OK, not a cat, but a big blue rooster has appeared on top of the National Gallery here in Washington, D.C., overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue. The sculpture might be crowing about the reopening of the museum's east building after a three-year renovation³. Several new exhibitions are up. One includes an art photographer who is a favorite of NPR special correspondent Susan Stamberg. She met him and his collectors at the museum.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: How are you doing, sir? Glad to see you this morning.

SUSAN STAMBERG, BYLINE⁴: The guard gives a big greeting to philanthropist Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker, a couple who began collecting photographs nine years ago. Thirty-five of them were just installed on the gallery walls.

RHEDA BECKER: It's very exciting. Look at that. Isn't it wonderful?

STAMBERG: They head toward one of the very first pictures they bought, by German photographer Thomas Struth. It's a double self-portrait - Struth inspecting a self-portrait by Albrecht Durer. Rheda loved Durer. Robert admired Struth.

BECKER: And Bob was the one who said it would be fun to see if we could get that.

STAMBERG: Were you a couple at that point, or did...

BECKER: Well, we became a couple very closely after that (laughter).

STAMBERG: So, inadvertently, Thomas Struth played Cupid. Struth is a highly respected contemporary photographer known for large pictures of people looking at paintings, sculptures, art in museums. He also makes massive architectural images. His photo of the facade⁶ of Notre Dame⁷, part of the Meyerhoff-Becker collection, is 6 feet by 8 feet, the largest photographic paper Kodak makes.

The looming⁸ Cathedral fills the vast photo space. Visitors below are as small as the sculptures that adorn⁹ it. It's as if the photo was taken from the high window of a tall building across the way. But there is no tall building there. For the high, head-on perspective he wanted, Struth needed a place to stand with his big 8-by-10 view camera. He ordered a very tall movable platform.

THOMAS STRUTH: And it came on a gigantic truck on a Saturday morning at 7 o'clock. And I thought, oh, my God.

STAMBERG: He had to remove the platform every evening and take it back to the front of the cathedral every morning. Then, he had to ask a souvenir hawker to move his wares¹⁰ so as not to get in the picture.

STRUTH: And he said, well, that makes, like, 500 euros less profit on one day. So (laughter) - so we paid him some money to move his.

STAMBERG: And then he had to wait for the right number of tourists to walk by. In the enormous photo, not one tourist is blurred¹². It took two days to get the image he wanted - some 120 shots. Thomas Struth spent less time making another photo in the Meyerhoff-Becker collection, very different from his architectural and museum work - much less dramatic. This one was commissioned by a curator at the National Gallery in London.

STRUTH: I was sitting at the studio that morning in Dusseldorf and got the call. And I thought, this is crazy.

STAMBERG: Him photograph Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip? Not exactly his style. Struth spent days making pro¹¹-and-con⁵ lists. Con - he could fail. That would be bad. Pro, but sort of con-ish (ph)...

STRUTH: If it succeeds, I have to talk about it all the time. Also, it was...

STAMBERG: You're doing a pretty good job right now.

Thomas Struth set some conditions.

STRUTH: I need to select the dress.

STAMBERG: Nothing fancy - no fur-trimmed robe, no crown. He chose a simple, pale blue silk, small pin on the shoulder, black patent pumps. Three weeks before the shoot, he scoped out Windsor Castle, picked a room with gold trim, chandeliers, a rich, green brocaded love seat, angled back so a bright, natural light makes the Queen more prominent. The royals sit facing the camera, her expression pleasant, his stare intent.

STRUTH: He's like an old eagle.

STAMBERG: Thomas Struth took 17 pictures in 25 minutes.

STRUTH: They were actually quite nice together. You know, while I was dealing¹³ with the camera and stuff like that in between, they were talking to one another. And I thought, they're - they're great. You know, I like them.

STAMBERG: To collectors Rheda Becker and Robert Meyerhoff, they look like a fairly ordinary suburban¹⁴ couple in a fancy room.

There are these two married people sitting on a nice couch.

BECKER: I know, I know. It's just brilliant.

ROBERT E MEYERHOFF: Nice couple, whoever they are.

BECKER: (Laughter). Have them over for a Johnnie Walker Black.

MEYERHOFF: Yeah, they look like the type.

STAMBERG: In addition to Thomas Struth's work, Becker and Meyerhoff's photography collection includes Cindy Sherman, Jeff Wall among others - major contemporary photographers - in the east building of the National Gallery until early March. I'm Susan Stamberg, NPR News, Washington.

1 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

6 facade   

n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表

参考例句：

• The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
• If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察，你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。

7 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

8 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

9 adorn   

vt.使美化，装饰

参考例句：

• She loved to adorn herself with finery.她喜欢穿戴华丽的服饰。
• His watercolour designs adorn a wide range of books.他的水彩设计使许多图书大为生色。

10 wares   

n. 货物, 商品

参考例句：

• They sold their wares at half-price. 他们的货品是半价出售的。
• The peddler was crying up his wares. 小贩极力夸耀自己的货物。

11 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

12 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

14 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。