老派全家福之必要

去年十一月我們家去照了全家福，還挺慎重其事地，挑了日子、挑了衣服搭配，拍照的前一天總算是為爸爸挑了一件帥氣筆挺的西裝、替媽媽挑了一件貴婦派頭的套裝，早上還起了個大早到美容院「sedo」（做頭髮），就為了這張全家福。


說真的，2012年並不是特別好過。家裡的生意比往年糟，家族裡有些不愉快，弟弟的工作稱不上順遂，我的計劃停擺，妹妹即將遠行。印象中很多時候都比現在過得還要來的無憂無慮。

在這個時候我們拍了全家福。

當妹妹第一次提起這個念頭的時候，我想到的是章貽和在最後的貴族中彩色夾頁的那些黑白照片，正經八百的，或站得直直或坐的挺挺的，家族照。維多利亞時代流行的傳記在二十世紀再版時的家族照也是那樣的，擺好了姿勢，對准了鏡頭，然後靜待那一瞬間把所有的人像，排除掉每個人的故事和情緒，精準的記錄下來。

如果是上個世紀或者上上個世紀，也許我爸媽早就兒孫成群了
二十世紀末和二十一世紀初拍照流行笑。微笑、淺笑、大笑、露牙齒笑、抿著嘴笑。

我們在攝影師鏡頭前笑得燦爛，仿佛所有的憂愁、苦惱、鬱悶都暫時不存在。沒別的原因，因為我們還在一起。大家都說是世界末日的時候，我們還有彼此，笑得燦爛呢。




他們說，哇，穿這麼水，是要娶媳婦還是要嫁女兒？

然後我爸媽笑得更燦爛了。

My family had our photo taken last November. That was nothing traditional, in terms of the Chang would usually do. My mom was rather reluctant when my sister Tiffany came up with the idea. But it all went well in the end.

2012 was a tough year for nearly all of us. The extended family had troubles relating to properties and a long time harmony among the relatives now looks hypocrite. Things became tricker now. I was not sure about how this lunar New Year would be like. Things are simply not the same any more.

My brother's work has ups and downs. My application was going very well. No specific idea for my proposal so far. My parents' business, thanks to the aftermath of 08's financial crisis, reclined in a way that they could have imagined. Tiff's happy in her new relationship with this Japanese guy she met in Canada, they're now in Australia doing the working holiday things yet she cannot deny the uncertainty  for them is so high that neither of them could be sure for nothing.

No one is sure what would come next. But we survive anyway. This photo somehow reminds us that we still have each other. Till the end of the world.