《看見的時代》The Era Seen
The 'Days of the Photo Club' here mainly refers to the interregnum of 'photography' and 'photographic art or implications' between the periods of Taiwan's restoration from Japan and the full retreat of Japanese forces from Taiwan, and how local photographers and photographers from China were blended and entwined, and thus created a spectacular consciousness of the specific times. As long as 'photography' and 'photographic art or implications' followed the Organic Act of the Civil Associations, it was permitted by the government for civilians to establish cultural and artistic organizations dedicated to the practices of the related art and culture.
During the particular 'Days of the Photo Club', Taiwanese photographers, being deeply influenced by Japanese culture, naturally sought their photographic nourishment from the new concepts of the Japanese photography magazines, and subconsciously challenged and competed with the aesthetics of traditional Chinese pictorialism. Moreover, the tides of global photographic knowledge changed around WWII, and modern photographic concepts hence gradually shifted towards Photorealism, and the versatile explorative nature of photography, thus accompanied by each individual photographer's inclinations, eventually set to a new direction.
'Days of the Photo Club' in association with other photographic enthusiasts and international salon competitions, the photo clubs made outstanding, differentiated and spectacular achievements; such 'daily life viewpoints' as presented in the international salon events, not only competed with each other, but also individually fulfilled and interpreted the essences of modern photorealism and traditional Chinese pictorialism, recording their memories and love of the land of the time. That generation of photographers, in addition to their indulgence in self-centered photographic expression, also broke through the political barriers, and through their viewfinders, recorded the images of the difficult times.
《看見的時代》 | 簡永彬、楊永智撰文 | 23 x 28 cm | 432頁 | 2014年 | 夏綠原國際出版 | 穿線裝訂 | 中文&英文
The Era Seen : The Pursuit of Images during the Days of the Photo Club, 1940s-1970s | Texts by Chien Yun-Ping & Yang Yung-Chih | 23 x 28 cm | 432 pages | 2014 | Published by Sunnygate Corp. | Coptic Binding | Chinese & English