Voyage, means a period of trip to anywhere. 15840, it is the minimum wage for workers in Taiwan. However, for migrant workers in Taiwan, it means the “maximum”. By naming Voyage 15840, TIWA (Taiwan International Workers’ Association) gathered all the photo works from 19 migrant workers in Taiwan. They published the photo book to voice out what migrant worker saw while working in Taiwan, the humanity, and the society.

On June 3, all migrant workers gathered to celebrate. By announcing the first photo book published, there were also some dances and other activities volunteered from other groups. In addition, all the 19 photographers staged on to give a short talk for their excitement and deep gratitude. Grace, who previously had basic trainings in art in her home town the Philippines, indicated that she is very happy to express her true feelings to others via those photo works. Another photographer, Gonzalez was first amazed at himself as the only male who had attended and said, “Photography is great! I want to show my works to all my family and friends when I am back to my home town!”

the image is from Taiwan International Workers Association

The self-report from the minority

In Taiwan, we always have the stereo type on migrant workers of being black, dirty, noisy and in crowds because of the gap/barriers of languages and cultures. We resent them as we believe they are robbing our work opportunities. Also, in the press, they are shown as very poor and pitiful or hateful. The chief business assistant and director of photo workshop, Wu Jing-Ru, criticized, “In the past few months, we heard of Thai workers from High Speed Railway fighting against violence and Vietnamese household workers killed her employer. In these incidences, no one has asked them of what they were thinking at the moment they did the behaviour. So why did it happen anyway?”

Jing-Ru also expressed, ‘Voyage 15840′ is to let migrant workers interpret, face up to and express what they feel and how they think by photographing. These migrant contributors always take efforts for Taiwan massive construction, but ignored from the public and the media. By this opportunity, migrant workers and Taiwan citizens can real ’see each other’. During the interview of one radio program, Watch Media, the host Benla mentioned, “I do not know what these workers were thinking when being pictured, but perhaps by the picturing themselves, they are trying to tell us something…”

One staff for the photo workshop, Chiang Ching-Fang, expressed that members from the course were quick learners. They can master the ability in photographing and drawing in a short time. However, in two workshops of each lasting for 6 months, it is not only teaching the photo skills but discussing on all the art works with each that matters. When migrate to Taiwan, under the severe circumstances, all the migrant workers were “trained not to talk on everything”. And this is the most challenging.

Again and again we asked the students: “What do you want to say?” and “how do you wish to go about saying it? …” Gradually I realized, it was not easy to say “I” (i.e. “I see, I feel, I think, or I want…”) given that the principle of their job is mainly to cater to other people’s every need.

Though it is not easy to show the courage to open themselves to others under the sun, gradually, they finally crossed the line. Jing-Ru recalled, “Facing our emotions needs courage and the more when facing other general people. They are potentially the actors in the pictures. At first, these migrant workers could merely stand in a far way to take shots. After several months testing and trying, they could go to the pictured for a short talk. Like Vangie, she had her photos on the old man who sells ice cream. Ellen had hers on the police and their cars.

Still stressed by Jing-Ru, every migrant worker has her/his own story and identity. They are not just workers, but daughters, mothers or wives at the same as well. They are indeed the heroines to keep up the economy for their home town. By working abroad, their souls are eroded with the deplorable living and work conditions. By discussing and being listened, they start to piece up again…

The strike and the touch

Few getting touch with the migrant worker issues, Akiyama was attracted by the poster of “Voyage 15840”. She shared the strike and the reflection in her mind after visiting the exhibition:

When sitting with a migrant worker from the Philippines, Thailand, or other places of South-East Asia, we always are alert to or start to feel uncomfortable. However, s/he is from Japan, America or the Europe, we may not have such feeling toward them even they are actually bastard of nature! Is not it unfair? Is not it?!

Cultural critic, Kuo Li-hshi, indicated in the introduction of the photo book, naming “They Must Represent Themselves!”, that as we know many migrant workers live and work with the deplorable conditions in Taiwan, still, we can not see their complaints in the art works. They made themselves calm and bravely face. He said, “As a reader, we should be sorry and ashamed.” Li-Shi Kuo was astonished at social observations from those migrant workers. In the mean time, they also see the toils of the local workers, such as the betel nut salesgirls , or the plumer who works on Sunday. In “The Sunday Broom” and “NT100 and Filipino Flag”, they used a sign metaphor and sarcasm to project. Kuo sighed, “They made us embarrassed as intellectuals.”

Ma. Belen Batabat also has a series of images about Taiwanese society: the red-shirt troops, the political graffiti by BBrother, the chemotherapy room for cancer patients, and the shoelace-selling old man who dresses in a suit an works with dignity. With her keen observations of thesociety, and sensitivity to people, her works are so admirable that they put to shame many college photography students who have poor real life experiences and are ‘lacking subjects to photograph’.

Bad Mouth has a ’sister’ from Indonesia at home, thus she is much compassionate toward these people. As a reporter, every time interviewing migrant workers, she feels with them at ease. She sobbed out, “As long as I think of their encounter, I can not help but start to cry…” Bad Mouth saw the differences from ordinary life. She has her inner change since then…

Another lady who accepted my interview, Ellen, told me that because of picturing, she started to feel in a different way for the foreign land. The most important of all, the feeling in picturing, she feels freedom within her. “I have the freedom to express my feelings. I have the freedom to fight for my rights…” From their photos, we saw what they saw and viewed in their eyes.

authors : FoolFitz & Ivy Shiue

Voyage，旅程；15840，是台灣法定的最低工資，但大多數離鄉背井的移工們，卻常常是多方扣款下的「最高工資」。以這場15840的旅程為名，台灣國際勞工協會(TIWA)集結19位移工的攝影作品，出版了這本攝影集，讓以往缺乏發聲管道的移工們，透過鏡頭詮釋自己所見的台灣社會。

6月3日的發表會上，除了各團體友情贊助的歌舞表演外，移工攝影師們也一個個上台發表感言。在家鄉已有藝術基礎的Grace說，她很高興有機會向他 人表達自己的感受；身為唯一男性的Gonzalez，先納悶喜歡攝影的男性怎麼那麼少，接著充滿驕傲的說：「攝影很棒！回家鄉後我也會把這本書拿給我的家 人和朋友看！」

弱勢者的自我表述

在台灣，因為文化差異和語言隔閡，一般人對移工總是有很差的刻板印象：黑黑髒髒、吵雜、成群結隊，甚至被認為是來搶台灣勞工飯碗。而在媒體中，移工通常都出現在社會新聞，不是很可憐就是很可惡。TIWA總幹事、攝影工作坊的召集人吳靜如批評：「過去高雄捷運泰勞抗暴、越傭阿梅砍傷雇主等事件發生時，除了事件本身，沒有人去問移工：為什麼發生這些事、他們在想什麼？」

靜如表示，「凝視驛鄉」便是希望將詮釋權還給移工，讓這些為台灣各大重要建設付出勞力、甚至生命，卻總是被主流媒體和社會大眾忽視的勞動者們，透過攝影，正視自己的想法與感受，並讓移工和台灣人民「互相看見」。在廣播節目「Watch Media」中，主持人benla訪問靜如時說：「當移工被拍攝時，我們不知道他們在想什麼；但當他手拿相機，也許就是想告訴我們什麼…」

在兩次各為期半年的工作坊裡，除了攝影之外，彼此對作品的討論，也是非常重要的環節；然而，在受壓抑的工作及生活條件下，移工們已經習慣「不要說話」。工作坊苦力群之一的小江表示，在課程中，學員對基礎的攝影技術很快就能上手，美學構圖也是各憑本事；但最具挑戰的，是如何讓移工們明確地表達自己的感受：

影像也好文字也罷，一次又一次我們問學員：你想要說的是什麼？你希望如何表達？
…

幾次課上下來我才慢慢悟到，長時間處於以達到他人要求為行為準則狀態下的人，要舒坦在在的說出：「我看到」、「我覺得」或「我認為」、「我想要」竟不是理所當然。

而透過自我凝視和互相討論，攝影師們逐漸展顯了勇氣，靜如說，不只面對自己的情緒需要勇氣，面對被拍攝者，更需要勇氣；一開始攝影師們總是遠遠地拍攝，到後 來敢於跟被拍攝者講話，短短時間內有了非常大的躍進。如Vangie便拍攝了賣冰淇淋的阿伯，原本害怕警察的Ellen也鼓起勇氣去拍了警車。

靜如也強調，每一位移工皆具有不同的身份，她們不只是勞動者，也是母親、妻子，更是支撐母國經濟的英雄；她們的心靈，被沈重的社會擠壓得單薄，但討論和聆聽的過程，重新帶出了她們身為一個「完整的人」的各個面向。

衝擊與感動
以往甚少接觸移工議題的akiyama說，她因「凝視驛鄉」的宣傳海報而被吸引，並分享她在實際參觀攝影展之後，受到的衝擊與反省：

自己在乘車時，身旁若是坐了一位菲律賓、泰國，還是其他東南亞國家來的移工，是不是總是特別提高了警覺，或是感到莫名的不悅？

若換成是一位歐美地區人士或是日本人的話，是不是就不會有前述的感覺？反而能夠有著像平常搭車時一樣的平穩心情，即使在你隔壁的那個美國人／歐洲人／日本人，本性是個傲慢的混帳？

不是這樣嗎？

難道不是這樣嗎？！

文化評論者郭力昕在攝影集的序文〈她們必須表述自己！〉中表示，許多移工來到台灣，工作及生活條件普遍不佳、甚至惡劣，但作品中卻不曾見到她們埋怨，僅以平靜的語調陳述心情和遭遇，甚至知足地面對。郭力昕說，「做為觀者的我們，在這些簡單的畫面與事實裡，只有感到更多的歉咎與心痛。」

而對於攝影者敏銳的社會觀察，郭力昕感到十分驚豔：她們能在辛苦工作的同時，看到本地人的辛勞（如假日仍需工作的電工和檳榔西施），在〈星期天的掃把〉及〈一百元與菲律賓國旗〉中，使用了符號隱喻及諷刺，讓我們這些受過訓練的知識份子，感到汗顏：

Ma. Belen Batabat一系列的台灣社會景觀，從捷運站裡的紅衫軍、BBrother的街頭政治塗鴉、癌症患者的化療室，到西門町穿著西服外套、和善而尊嚴地賣鞋帶的老人，更是令人佩服的作品；其細膩準確的社會觀察能力，和對人的敏銳觸感，可以讓許多在大學校園裡生活貧血而致「缺乏題材」的攝影學生，感到汗顏。

家裏有位來自印尼的「妹妹」，身為記者的壞嘴巴對於移工有著十足的同理心，每次採訪移工的新聞時，總會投入特別多的感情，「因為想到她們的心酸，我就會不禁眼眶泛紅…」而壞嘴巴在採訪了移工攝影師Ellen之後，讓她覺得透過相機，讓平凡的生活開始有了不同的風景，更滋生了在內的改變：

另一位接受我採訪的Ellen小姐，她說，因為拍照，她開始覺得眼睛看的異鄉，有了不一樣的意義，也有了不一樣的感情； 而最重要的是，拍照的感覺，讓她覺得擁有了自由…「I have the freedom to express my feeling. I have the freedom to fight for my rights…」

從她們的照片，我們看見了她們眼中的凝視，也看到了她們的觀點。

延伸閱讀：

• 凝視驛鄉《Voyage 15840》攝影集
• 線上觀賞部份攝影作品
• 苦勞報導：凝視驛鄉 – 從移工的觀點看見臺灣
• watchmedia197集：移駐勞工影像展

authors : FoolFitz & Ivy Shiue

親愛的朋友們：

為了在所有參與創作的移工攝影家，以及關注移工文化與培力的朋友們面前，呈現出一本更完整、更深刻、更動人的攝影集，我們決定將原訂5月6日開幕之移工攝影展，延期至6月3日至10日。若此一變動造成您的不便，我們深感抱歉；但我們也相信，更慎重、充裕的準備，是為了表達對這群跨國攝影創作者最誠摯的敬意。

6月3日當天，除了多元豐富的開幕展演活動，我們更籌辦了攝影集新書發表會，希望打造一座舞台，讓底層異國勞工親自與讀者面對面，茁壯出為自己發聲的力量。

另外，攝影集的助印行動仍在持續，若我們在5月10日前有幸收到您的助印款，您的芳名將會列印於集子當中。敬請劃撥捐款，每冊500元，請於劃撥單上註明助印冊數及基本資料，我們將會在攝影集出版後奉上。劃撥帳號：19948580，戶名：台灣國際勞工協會。

請與我們一起：凝視他者的觀點，追尋工人的驛鄉！

台灣國際勞工協會
104台北市中山北路三段53-6號3樓
Tel: 02-25956858
Fax: 02-25956755
聯絡人：吳靜如 0928-557481

時間：2007/05/06（日） 2007/06/03 01:30pm

地點：撫順公園（中山北路三段）

攝影展期：2007/05/06-05/13 2007/06/03-06/10

請按這邊觀賞攝影展的部分作品

高鐵、高捷、雪山隧道、台北101、東西快速道路….十幾年來台灣重大公共建設，無一不是移工的付出；等垃圾車的街角、假日的公園火車站、營造工地的圍牆內、工業區大型的宿舍、醫院的重症病房…我們都可以看見移駐勞工穿梭、勞動的身影。

台灣國際勞工協會長期服務移駐勞工，除了深刻地了解到移工在個人面向及制度面向所遇到的問題外，更看到在台有數十年之久的這群移動者的不被看見（invisible）及台灣社會缺乏開放性地理解這群國際勞工的管道。

我們稟著「生活記錄、記錄生活」的寫實主義文化理念，透過傻瓜相機的運用和對生活觀察及表達能力的訓練，圓滿完成了兩期移工攝影工作坊的訓練課程。

以人手一台的相機為觸角，移工們透過觀景窗，以第一人稱的視角逐步發掘存在於周遭卻經常被忽略的各種現象、勞動場域及生活社群的真實境況，並以簡短的文字敘述來表達他們對自己身份的看法與對不同文化現象的提問。

我們希望，藉由攝影集的出版和攝影展的呈現，讓這群在全球化脈絡下移動的勞工取得發聲的機會，以平實、容易、活潑的方式讓當地社會看見並瞭解，更希望進一步拓展台灣社會對於勞動文化多元面相的視野。

我們極需要您的贊助，讓這群底層勞動者的發聲成為可能～
★您的贊助方式：助印攝影集
–> 助印價NT500/本

請直接將助印/捐款金額劃撥至台灣國際工協會（捐款帳號：台灣國際勞工協會 劃撥帳號：19948580），我們將在攝影集出版後寄給您助印本數。

★請於劃撥單上註明：
1. 助印人/團體名稱
2. 助印本數
3. 聯絡人、電話/手機、通訊地址、email

聯絡人：台灣國際勞工協會 吳靜如（02-2595-6858 / jingru@tiwa.org.tw）