＜台上‧台下＞八○代以後出生的七年級生，大概很難有機會看見野台戲，然而對六○年代以前出生的四、五年級生來說，野台戲卻是一項難忘的記憶。
看過野台戲的小孩應該都和我一樣，記不起台上演過的任何一齣戲，但對於台下那些熱鬧的情景，卻是記憶猶新。戲棚下面各式各樣的小攤販群聚，打香腸、烤甜不辣、彈珠台、抽獎品……應有盡有，熱鬧喧騰的氣氛，完全不輸台上的聲嘶力竭。而相較於小孩的興奮，大人則落個清閒、端把椅子、坐在戲台前看起戲來。
長大後，我對台下另類戲碼的偏愛依然沒有改變，就像這個在戲台下吊單槓的小弟弟；或是這個趁大伙兒全神灌注看表演時，偷親旁邊小女生的小傢伙。許多時候，台上的曲終人散或許令人難受，然而，誰又能否認或許台下的熱鬧歡騰才是生命的主戲呢？
【Backstage】Anyone who has ever seen a local theater troupe perform knows what I am talking about. It was a temporary stage: a high platform where the actors performed the most popular traditional stories at the loudest volume. Back then, kids like me were never really turned on by the on-the-stage thing. Instead, we were fascinated by the backstage world. With the old man selling grilled sausages, games of shooting marbles, eating roasted delights, backstage was truly a paradise. Looking at the little guy hanging and playing around under the stage, and the kid trying to kiss the little girl beside him, who dares to deny that it is backstage where real life is played out?
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＜牌局＞
在台東的｢太平之家｣住著許多榮民。他們年少時就離鄉背井，隨著大小戰役四處奔波，國軍退守台灣後，他們又參與不少艱困的公路與橋樑建設工程、開山拓荒，許多人因此成了重殘，終日臥床。
拍攝那天早晨，幾位老先生在晨光中打牌，雖然沒有人下注，但他們的人生牌局裡，那失去的故鄉、親人、健康、財富，都已無法追悔，而在我的心目中，他們雖然所餘不多，仍然是一條好漢，只是永遠都是這場牌局上的輸家。
【Playing Cards】They were once brave soldiers. They were once stern killers. They were once royal fighters. But glorious days come and go. Now, they are old, and do not have much left. The cards in their hands are all that remain for them dominate. They are their own heroes now.
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＜一截甘蔗＞
很多台北年輕人大概不知道現在最繁榮的台北東區，以前有一大片田，而且還有軍用小火車會經過，目的地是當時的聯勤兵工廠，也就是現在屋價最高的信義計劃區。這張照片的派攝地點，就是現在光復南路麥當勞後面那片停車場上，那時鐵軌兩側，林立著許多違章建築，這裡的住戶則多半是市場菜販。
圖片中的婦人就住在其中一戶違建中，是我們從小就認識的發瘋婦人，沒人知道她的名字，只管叫她的綽號「瘋驢子」。從小她就是街坊長輩恐嚇小孩的手段，因為她會攻擊人，常會追逐小朋友或是對我們吐口水丟石頭。小時候放學走在鐵軌上，最怕與她相逢，而關於她的傳聞也千奇百怪，但多屬傳言，無從求證，唯一確定知道的是，她有一個弱智的女兒。
一九八四年我初學攝影不久，那時光復南路上全台首家麥當勞也才剛開幕，附近居民大排長龍、爭相購買當時天價的漢堡。我拿著相機走在這條再熟悉不過的鐵軌時，遇見了她，她當時正揀起地上菜販丟棄的甘蔗頭，給她的女兒吃。我小心謹慎的拿起相機，拍下這一幕。當時心中並無多想，只是當我穿過違建看見二十公尺外正在大排長龍的麥當勞時，……內心突然為之一怔。那是我生命中第一次強烈感受到，一個地方兩個世界的震撼。坦白說，這張照片深深影響了我後來對真實世界的態度，連帶影響我多年的攝影觀點。
拍照後沒多久，違建及鐵軌都被拆除了，取而代之的是一片寬廣平坦的停車場。我再也沒見過瘋驢子，但那一截甘蔗頭卻讓我在一個地區發現兩個世界……
【A Discarded Sugar Cane】The woman, seen right, was carefully giving her daughter a discarded piece of sugar cane next to the train track. She was no other than the “Mad Donkey” in the neighborhood, with a retarded daughter. Nobody knew much about her story. But kids were familiar with her, because their parents would use her to threaten them when they misbehaved. The irony is that just outside the photo frame, one hundred feet away, was a long line of kids with their parents, eagerly waiting to buy hamburgers at the first McDonald’s in Taipei. At that time, the price for a hamburger was equal to 20 loaves of bread. A piece of sugar cane or a costly hamburger—two lives, worlds apart in the same city.
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＜消失的沖天炮＞
照片中右邊第二位小朋友，名叫彭志偉，拍照那年我剛滿二十歲，他才十二歲。
我時常在部落中聽他們一群孩子說故事，和他們建立了深刻的情誼，也共度過許多美好的時光，那年我也留下了許多關於他們生活中精采的畫面。
兩年後退伍，我再度回到部落，愕然得知志偉幾天前在學校運動場上因心肌梗塞，驟然猝死。接下來的幾天夜裡，我陪著志偉的父親一同喝酒澆愁，看著他滿臉淚水醉倒桌邊，腦中不禁想起他父親轉述志偉的話：大哥哥說過將來要帶我到處去走走……
志偉出殯那天，我用相機送他最後一程。回到台北，我努力尋找出每一格有志偉的畫面。一個月後的一個暗夜，我敲著志偉家的門，將他所有的影像交到他父親的手上，然後我暗暗下定決心，一定要履行對志偉的承諾：將他的影像如同圖中的沖天炮般，飛送到台灣的各個角落去，就像當初我承諾將帶著他四處走看一般……
【The Disappearing Firecracker】The second kid from the right was twelve years old when I took this photo. One of the kids was setting the firecracker. He was one of the mountain kids; the mountain was everything to him. He took me on an adventure into the mountain and never hesitated to share with me the beauty of his land. Unfortunately, when I stopped by two years later, I learned from his father that he had abruptly died on the school ground just several days before my visit. Seeing his father, lying on the ground, almost drunk to death with tears on his face, I kept on thinking of the words the young boy once said to his father, “Big brother will take me to see the world when I grow up.”Yes, I'm going to carry out my promise right now. By telling his story and showing his photo to the world, I can give him freedom and adventure, just like the firecracker being shot that day. So, my little brother, are you ready to go see the world? Now, go.
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＜發現角落＞
拍照十幾個年頭至今，最初幾年，攝影全然是一種興趣，那時我與相機形影不離，背著它，我走遍台灣大小城鄉，留在相機內的每一個畫面，都是發自內心的感動而按下快門，也儲存了許多關於自己與別人間的心情故事。
後來進入媒體工作，攝影成了維生方式。每天都在時間的壓迫下不斷地按快門，時常不知道自己在拍什麼，只在意怎樣的畫面可以安然度過截稿時間。日積月累下，我發現竟然用相機製造了許多垃圾，對自己以及讀者皆是如此。至此，攝影對我，不再是興趣，而是一種壓力。當發現自己年輕時的攝影信念已經不復存在時，我竟殷切盼望，有一天能放下身上沉重的相機。
直到千禧年一個午後，我在陽明山發現了一處安靜的角落。我看見了人、草木、土地、風和雲……，彼此間是那樣和諧寧靜。那一瞬間，我彷彿尋回當年拿起相機的初衷，心想，總有一天我要成立一家公司，生產許多美好的影像和全世界分享。既然這一切的起點，來自這個意外發現的角落，那麼公司名稱就叫做……｢角落｣！
【My Corner】Once I decided to put down the camera, and say goodbye to my photography career, thinking that I could no longer bear to be a lifeless shutter-pressing robot. But this late afternoon in the mountain changed my mind. I discovered a peaceful corner, just past a large bush and away from the noisy visitors. It was the corner that helped me find the courage to move on.
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《角落映像》全書完。
（攝影‧文字/陳建仲）
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