PòH POH
HóU LENG
婆 婆 好 靓
In Chinatown Pretty, photographer Andria Lo and writer Valerie Luu document the vibrant street style of seniors in Chinatowns across North America.
Chinatown Pretty（中文名：华埠靓靓）是一个以“唐人街银发时尚”街拍为重心的项目。摄影师Andria Lo和作家Valerie Luu(两位华裔女性）从2014年开始合作，记录了北美唐人街老人们的时尚与人生故事。
88岁的Dorothy G.C. Quock用一个旧米袋改成了这条裙子，同时也将历史元素融入其中。她的父亲从中国广东省移民到旧金山后，曾在唐人街的街店面和住宅区负责送米。
The photos burst with color and swag. But the heart of the project goes beyond the sartorial: "The clothes serve as a gateway to their life histories," Luu says. "We interview them about what they did before retirement as well as their immigration journeys, which are often rife with taxing stories of work, war and loss. And now add to that, a global pandemic."
尽管这些照片充满了色彩和时尚元素，但这个项目不只是关于穿着打扮。Luu表示：“这些服饰是了解他们生活的窗口：我们采访了他们退休前的生活和移民之旅，他们大多经历过苦工和战火，损失惨重。如今又增添了全球疫情的经历。
Amid the harrowing challenges posed by coronavirus — and a recent surge of anti-Asian hate crimes targeting the elderly — the images of Chinatown Pretty are a powerful, and often spirited, reminder of these seniors' joy and resilience.
面对疫情这一令人痛苦的挑战——以及最近针对老年人的反亚裔仇恨犯罪的激增——Chinatown Pretty希望呈现一个强大并往往充满活力的形象，能让人想起这些老人的快乐和坚韧。
"We see tender stitches keeping cardigan buttons in place, or two or three bags combined to maximize storage," Luu said of the portrait subjects' resourcefulness. "The DIY ethos is thickly woven into Chinatown seniors' approach to clothes and accessories."
Luu说到图片上这些老人充满智慧：“我们看到他们用细腻的针脚将开襟羊毛衫的纽扣固定在原位，又或是把两三个袋子组合在一起，以最大限度地留出储存空间。这种DIY精神深深融入了唐人街老人对服饰的态度。”
左图：92岁的Leung Tai Shen戴着哨子和两个葫芦护身符。在中国传统文化中，葫芦被认为能驱走恶灵和疾病。
右图：77岁的Sidney Yuen在香港、夏威夷以及奥克兰自己的Berkeley Bowl市场里当过屠夫，退休前他在那里待了36年。
【以下内容源于NPR对Luu和Lo关于Chinatown Pretty项目的采访。】
What was the inspiration for Chinatown Pretty?
创作Chinatown Pretty的灵感源于哪里？
When we went on dim sum dates in San Francisco's Chinatown, we noticed there was a distinct style among the seniors — patchworks of colors, patterns and textures that made for joyful and unexpected looks. Imagine your grandpa wearing a Supreme hat with a two-piece patterned set, silk scarf and the coolest Nikes. We wanted to understand how these people composed their outfits — and more importantly, where they got their shoes.
我们之前去旧金山的唐人街吃点心时，就被唐人街老人们独特的穿着打扮所吸引——各种颜色、图案以及纹理的拼贴搭配，让人赏心悦目的同时又出人意料。想象一下，你的爷爷戴着一顶有两件套装的Supreme帽子，搭配着丝巾，踩着最潮的耐克。所以我们很想知道他们是如何获得这些穿衣灵感的——更重要的是，真的很想知道他们是从买来这些鞋子的。
So it started out with wanting to know more about their clothes, but the project quickly evolved into a celebration of their lives.
起初，我们只是想多了解一些关于他们的穿着打扮，但这个项目很快就演变成了对他们生活的一种赞美。
左图：89岁的You Tian Wu在旧金山百老汇的一家餐厅外拍照。他说：“当你年轻的时候，你不必在意时尚；但当你老了，你不得不去在意。”
右图：Angie No Good展示了他环游世界时戴的镶有珐琅别针的帽子。
Were there any particular challenges in photographing this demographic?
拍摄过程中有没有什么特别的挑战?
Our project captures the fashion of Chinatown seniors through street photography and on-the-street interviews. Therefore, it's very ephemeral. Sometimes we only get a chance to chat with them for a few minutes before they get on a bus or carry on with their errands for the day. Since Chinese seniors tend to be more private (and because they're probably caught off guard by people going nuts over their outfits), we have a 90% rejection rate.
我们的项目主要是通过街头摄影和当街的采访来捕捉唐人街老人的时尚与故事。因此，记录的过程非常短暂。有时我们只能聊几分钟，他们就上了公交车或者继续他们一天的工作。由于中国的老人往往更注重隐私（也因为我们突然拦下他们或许对他们来说有点唐突有点措手不及)，我们的拒绝率其实高达90%。
左图：在旧金山的唐人街，衣服被挂在消防安全通道上晾晒。
右图：88岁的Shi Ping Tang表示她所有的衣服都是别人送的,“我从来不需要买任何东西，我的衣服全部都是朋友给的。”
2014年，84岁的Yu Tom在农历新年前的周末穿了几层紫色的针织毛衣去买橘子。这是她丈夫去世后她第一次外出。Tom的女儿说：“我父亲总是喜欢鲜艳的颜色。那个帽子和背心——对我母亲来说就像一条安全毯。”
I came across Chinatown Pretty for the first time this year and couldn't help but see it through the lens of the pandemic and other recent events, namely the attacks on Asian seniors across the country. Does this project carry a different weight for you now than when you first started?
我今年才第一次看到Chinatown Pretty，让我不禁透过疫情和最近发生的一些事件——也就是美国各地针对亚洲老年人的袭击——来看待这个项目。现在这个项目对你们来说和刚开始的时候有什么不同吗?
This year has been hard for Chinatowns. The decline in business that started before the pandemic was exacerbated by the economic destruction caused by the virus — the quiet got quieter. Then, an increase in hate crimes, robberies and attacks on elders. Senior citizens, a driving force of Chinatown, have become less visible. In San Francisco, there aren't as many card and chess players in Portsmouth Square or regulars discussing the news while eating chicken rice at Dol Ho.
今年对唐人街来说是很艰难的一年。他们的生意状况在疫情前就开始下滑，而由于疫情造成的经济破坏又持续加剧——一切变得更加沉寂。接着，仇恨犯罪、抢劫和攻击老人的案件逐渐增加。作为唐人街发展的驱动力，老人已变得不那么受人关注了。在旧金山，朴茨茅斯广场(Portsmouth Square)已没什么打牌和下棋的人了，Dol Ho餐厅也没什么边吃鸡肉饭边讨论新闻的常客了。
However, it's still possible to connect with older folks. We're finding new ways to give love to the Chinatown community — spending money at restaurants and shops, volunteering at food pantries, donating to causes like Feed + Fuel Chinatown, a pandemic initiative that provides hot meals to public housing residents while supporting local restaurants.
尽管如此，与老人取得联系和沟通仍然是可能的。我们正在寻找新的方式向唐人街社区贡献自己的力量——到餐馆和商店消费，在食品分发处做志愿者，向Feed + Fuel Chinatown这样的倡议计划捐款。
Feed+Fuel Chinatown，由华人社区协会中心（Chinatown Community Development Center）为公共住房居民提供热餐并支持当地餐馆的倡议。
Chinatown is not just a tourist destination. It's a community of people. This project has always been about celebrating that and right now, there's a greater need to give it more love.
唐人街不仅仅是一个旅游胜地，它也是一个人们生活居住的社区。Chinatown Pretty一直以来都是在赞美它，而现在，我们更需要给予它更多的爱。
左图：Guo Yu Lan和Pon Fay是从小学就认识的好朋友，她俩住在奥克兰的同一栋住宅楼里。
右图：75岁的Mei Ha Wong在照顾父亲的空闲时间去卖花。她说：“我儿子进行购买批发，我负责插花。”
What do you hope will resonate with people the most?
你最希望引起人们共鸣的是什么？
To dress and live with abandon like the Chinatown seniors in the book. And to tell a grandma she looks pretty today.
像唐人街的老人一样，穿着随意，生活自由。下次再遇到唐人街的婆婆，记得告诉她：你今天真好看。
顺便分享一个信息（不是广告：），目前同名书籍《Chinatown Pretty》已经出版，涵盖了整个北美唐人街的银发时尚影像及故事；感兴趣也可以到Chinatown Pretty的网站https://www.chinatownpretty.com/进行相关内容的浏览~
图片来自原文链接，版权归Andria Lo所有
编译 | 张云杨
排版 | 张云杨