At first, it looks like human artifice – a Photoshopped demonstration of ageing in action. But the image of truck driver William McElligott is actually a stark reminder of the destructive power of the sun. The left-hand side of the 66-year-old's face is deeply lined, pitted and sagging after 28 years of sun exposure through the side window of his lorry. The right-hand side, shaded by the cab as McElligott delivered milk around Chicago, is the taut, unblemished face of an apparently much younger man.
乍一看,它就像是人工合成的一样:一张PS过的慢慢变老的图片。但卡车司机威廉·麦克艾力哥特的这张照片,却真的给我们敲响了太阳破坏力的警钟。这位66岁的卡车司机,在芝加哥运输牛奶。在他的左脸上是一条条深深的皱纹,那是28年来他都要经受透过卡车侧窗的太阳光线暴晒的结果。由于右脸没有遭受太阳的照射,所以整个右脸是整洁干净的,从右脸看麦克艾力哥特,他显得更为年轻。
McElligott didn't notice the developing asymmetry for 15 years and only sought treatment when his grandchildren asked him about the "bumps" on his face. Doctors were shocked, and his image was published in the New England Journal of Medicine as a striking example of unilateral dermatoheliosis, or photoageing, caused by prolonged exposure to UV rays. The image demonstrates the danger to workers who might not regard themselves as at risk from the sun, according to Gill Nuttall, chief executive of Factor 50, a support group for people with skin cancer.
麦克艾力哥特在过去的15年里都没有意识到左右脸的不对称,直到他的孙子问起他脸上的肿块时他才寻求治疗。医生们都震惊了。关于他的照片发表在了新英格兰医学期刊上,当作一个关于单面日射病或是光老化的典型例子。这两种病都是由于遭受过长的紫外线照射而引起的。据Factor 50组织的的首席执行官吉尔·纳托尔称,图片向工作者们揭示了危险,这些工作者们也许并不认为他们正遭受来自太阳紫外线的辐射危险。Factor 50是一个为皮肤癌患者提供援助的团体。
Nuttall has written to Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, urging unions to help raise awareness of the risks for workers, including those such as meter readers, taxi drivers and even sales reps who don't regard their job as being outdoors. "They don't perceive themselves to be in any kind of danger," she says.
吉尔·纳托尔已经给英国劳工联合会的秘书长布兰登·巴伯(Brendan Barber)写了信,呼吁工会帮助提高劳工防范紫外线照射的意识,其中主要包括如下人群:抄表员、出租车司机,甚至是推销员。推销员们并不认为他们是在户外工 作。“他们没有意识到自己处在一种危险的环境中。”她说。
She has seen severe sun damage on the hands of reps – exposed to sun through windscreens — who drive for a living because car windscreens do not protect from UVA rays. These rarely trigger obvious sunburn, unlike UVB rays, but cause most photo-ageing, and can also lead to skin cancer. Just as images of smoking-induced wrinkles have been used to appeal to the vanity of the young so charities hope that real images such as that of McElligott could shock people into protecting themselves.
她见过推销员手上严重的晒伤--他们以开车为生,但太阳光线却能透过挡风玻璃,这是因为挡风玻璃不能阻止紫外线A的照射。和紫外线B不同,紫外线A几乎不会引起明显的晒伤,但会引起光老化,也有可能导致皮肤癌。就像那些因吸烟产生了皱纹的图片已经被用来警醒年轻人的虚荣心,慈善组织希望麦克艾力哥特这样真实的图片,能够触动人们采取措施保护自己。
Skin cancer charity Skcin has used a similarly shocking illustration of the ageing effects of the sun in identical twins, one of whom worked outside all her life and one who worked in an office, in presentations. "It always generates a gasp," says Charlotte Fionda of Skcin. The image of McElligott might also have an impact on men who would otherwise not be worried by a few wrinkles, according to Fionda – provided people trust that the image is not fabricated.
皮肤癌机构Skcin在他们的展出中也采用了一张类似令人震惊的图片。图片中是一对同卵双胞胎,其中一人的工作都是在户外,而另一人是在办公室内。“图片 总让人感到震惊。”皮肤癌机构Skcin的夏洛特·菲昂达说道。只要人们相信这张图片不是虚构的,那麦克艾力哥特的照片同样可以给忽略皱纹出现的男人们一 些触动。
"The ageing bit is the one thing that makes people more aware and likely to take action - because they think skin cancer will never happen to them," she says.
“只有出现一点点老化才能使人们提高意识,也更有可能会采取行动,因为他们认为皮肤癌从来不会发生在他们身上。” 她说。
"The imagination is a very powerful thing," adds Nuttall. "It doesn't take much to imagine one's own skin in 20 years' time — William's story is one we are going to see again and again."
纳托尔补充说到,“想象力具有很强大的力量,一个人20年后的皮肤状况,这很容易就能想象出来。威廉的故事就是我们反复看到的其中一个。”