Gregory Halpern King,Queen,Knave

• 打破衰退敘事：水牛城常被視為美國「鐵鏽地帶」後工業衰退的典型，但 Halpern 拒絕陳腔濫調。他融入了一種帶有超現實主義色彩的神秘現實，呈現該地美與醜、救贖與絕望並存的複雜性。
• 「髒污的白」色調：不同於過去作品（如《ZZYZX》）飽滿繽紛的色彩，本作大篇幅採用沉悶、帶有污濁感的白色調（Muted, dirty kind of white），高度還原水牛城漫長、缺乏日照的凜冬。
• 色彩的爆發：在雪白寒冬的基調下，零星出現的色彩（如破雪而出的鬱金香、 Bethlehem 鋼鐵廠舊址旁的向日葵）成為了視覺上的驚喜，暗示了這座城市**「一邊死亡，也一邊重生」**的生命力。 [1, 2, 3, 5]

• 「Knave」是「Jack（傑克）」的古稱，傳統上代表宮廷中地位最低的僕從，也有「流氓、無賴、不可靠的人」之意。
• 早期撲克牌因為「K（King）」和「KN（Knave）」縮寫容易混淆，後來才改為 Jack。
• Halpern 對此著迷，他透過影像隱喻：在這座城市舞台上，高貴的國王與底層的無賴往往模糊不清、極易混淆，命運就像一場漫長的紙牌遊戲。 [1, 3]

• 白鹿「艾普爾」（April）：書中以一隻名叫 April 的白鹿作為開頭並重複出現。牠穿梭在水牛城的舊第一區與自然保護區之間，在神話與宗教中白鹿帶有靈性，在書中則象徵著**「過渡」與「雙重性」**的隱喻。
• 舞台般的人物：影像中穿插著戴著滑雪面具的全黑神秘人物、雪堆與煙囪冒煙的孤立房屋，每個人物與地景都像是在這座後工業舞台上上演的一幕幕日常超越（Everyday transcendence）。 [1, 3, 4]

• 攝影：Gregory Halpern
• 出版社：MACK (London)
• 出版時間：2024 年 9 月
• 裝幀：壓印亞麻硬皮，封面貼圖（Debossed linen hardcover with tipped in image），112 頁 [1, 2]

Website

**King, Queen, Knave** is a full member of Magnum Photos and American contemporary photographer Gregory Halpern by MAC in 2024. A heavyweight personal photo collection published by K.

This work took 20 years (shot between 2004-2019) and is a long-term video project carried out by Halpern's return to his hometown of Buffalo, New York.

1. Core concept and visual style

Breaking the narrative of recession: Buffalo is often seen as a typical post-industrial recession in the "rust zone" of the United States, but Halpern refuses to be clichés. He integrated a mysterious reality with the color of surrealism, presenting the complexity of the coexistence of beauty and ugliness, redemption and despair.

"Dirty white" tone: Unlike the full and colorful colors of past works (such as "ZZYZX"), this work adopts a dull and dirty kind of white tone (Muted, dirty kind of white), which highly restores the long and lack of sunshine cold winter in Buffalo.

The explosion of color: Under the tone of snow-white winter, sporadic colors (such as tulips emerging from the snow and sunflowers next to the former site of Bethlehem steel mill) have become visual surprises, hinting at the vitality of the city **"while dying and reborn"**.

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2. The meaning of the title "King, Queen, Knave"

The title of the book is borrowed from Court cards in the history of poker.

Magnum Photos

"Knave" is the ancient name of "Jack", which traditionally represents the lowest servant in the court, and also means "rogue, scoundrel and unreliable person".

Early poker cards were easily confused because of the abbreviations of "K (King)" and "KN (Knave)", and later they were changed to Jack.

Halpern was fascinated by this. He used the visual metaphor: on the stage of this city, noble kings and scoundrels at the bottom are often vague and easily confused, and fate is like a long card game.

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3. Symbols in the book

White deer "April": The book begins with a white deer named April and appears repeatedly. It shuttles between the old first district of Buffalo and the nature reserve. In mythology and religion, the white deer is spiritual, and in the book, it symbolizes the metaphor of ** "transition" and "duality"**.

Stage-like characters: The image is interspersed with all-black mysterious figures wearing ski masks, snowdles and isolated houses with smoke from chimneys. Each character and scenery is like a scene of daily transcendence staged on this post-industrial stage.

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4. Book specifications

Photography: Gregory Halpern

Publisher: MACK (London)

Time of publication: September 2024

Framing: Debossed linen hardcover with tipped in image, 112 pages

Mackbooks.co.uk