“Concentrating Light: 2023 Taiwan Photographers Centenary Exhibition – Celebrating Chang Longgao, Yang Jixin, and Zhou Zhigang’s Legacy”

[The Epoch Times, April 21, 2023](The Epoch Times reporter Zhong Yuan interviewed and reported in Taiwan) Taiwan’s National Photography Cultural Center today (21st) launched “Concentration: 2023 Taiwan Photographers’ Centenary Exhibition—Chang Longgao, Yang Ji Xin, Zhou Zhigang”, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts director Liao Renyi, century-old photographer Chang Longgao and Zhou Wenhai, family member of photographer Zhou Zhigang, and many other distinguished guests attended the exhibition.

“Concentrating Light: 2023 Taiwan Photographers Centenary Collection Exhibition – Chang Longgao, Yang Jixin, Zhou Zhigang”

In 2023, Chang Longgao (1923-), Yang Jixin (1923-2005) and Zhou Zhigang (1923-2016) were born for 100 years. The National Photography Cultural Center specially planned to exhibit more than 90 pieces Selected collections of photographic works and related documents and archives, starting from the 1940s to 1950s, through the era experienced by photographers, show their keen lens perspective and artistic expression.

Liao Renyi said in his speech that photography not only captures the spirit of the times, but also preserves the memories of generations of Taiwanese. He is especially grateful to the families of Chang Longgao, Yang Jixin, and Zhou Zhigang for their careful maintenance and preservation of photographic cultural assets, enabling future generations to look back at the footprints of their predecessors and supporting the formation and writing of Taiwan’s photography history. He hopes that through this exhibition, the audience can learn more about these three photographers. Through wonderful and representative photographic creations and related documents and historical materials, they will show their exploration and contribution to photography art, as well as their records and interpretations of social culture.

Photographer Zhou Wenhai shared: The story of three generations of a family of photographers

Photographer Zhou Wenhai delivered a speech recalling that when he was seven years old, his father took the whole family to travel to Sun Moon Lake. The family of four lived in the second floor of the old Hanbi Building. Fell asleep. The next morning when the light came on, I woke up. I remember it very clearly. When I walked out sleepily that day, I saw my father sitting on the balcony with a tripod, and then used his very old The camera is facing Sun Moon Lake. That day was the first time I was attracted by the beauty of Sun Moon Lake, the scenery was like a Chinese painting, the clouds changed quickly, and then the light and shadow kept changing…

“I just watched my father put his eyes on the viewing window, press the shutter to rewind, and press the shutter to rewind. I will never forget the impression of that scene.” Zhou Wenhai said.

Zhou Wenhai said that 17 years later he became a professional photographer, and then he received a task from the Tourism Bureau to photograph various scenic spots in Taiwan. He went to Sun Moon Lake and found that it was completely different from when he was a child. He still obediently went to live in the room on the second floor of Han Bi Building. At half past five the next morning, he set up a tripod on the balcony. At six o’clock, the clouds began to change, and then the light and shadow began to change…

“I suddenly felt my father was next to me, sitting on the wicker chair like him back then. When the sun was about to come out, I pressed my face against the viewing window and pressed the shutter to rewind the film and press the shutter. I was very happy that day. Touched, but also very, very satisfied. I finally understood the best way to honor a person, and I finally managed to be exactly like him. My father has a son who can take pictures. My son is 34 years old this year, and he is also a professional photographer .” Zhou Wenhai said.

The National Photography Cultural Center stated that the exhibition not only showed the three photographers who came into contact with photography under different opportunities, and developed different video perspectives and aesthetic views, but also highlighted their video creation achievements, so that viewers can see through the video track , I saw the enthusiasm and perseverance of photographers in image creation. They are not only creators dedicated to the art of photography, but also important witnesses and participants in the construction of Taiwan’s photography history.

Chang Longgao’s works show the change of times and his dedication to photography after retirement. Chang Longgao was born in Luoyang County, Henan Province, China. He experienced severe drought in North China and the Sino-Japanese War when he was young. He enlisted in the army in 1941 and was sent to Mississippi Air Force Mechanical School in the United States in 1946 for training. After completing his training in the same year, he returned to China, and the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was in full swing. In the 1940s, Chang Longgao used photography to record the process of moving to Shanghai, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Hainan Island and other areas with the army until he moved to Taiwan in 1949.

Chang Lung-gao’s early photography after coming to Taiwan was mostly to record life, National Day ceremonies and other activities, and most of them have been lost. This exhibition uses his early photo albums and letter archives to show the image journey he has traveled, and presents the record of photography taken from the present, showing the story in the film of the great era. In 1992, Chang Longgao retired and lived in Australia for 15 years. He drove around and photographed the natural landscape of Australia, and established the “Aolong Photographic Society” in Australia. It precisely grasps the timing of the shutter, presenting a unique photographic performance of “waves and momentum” and “motion and stillness”.

Photographer Yang Chi-hsin’s images from the 1950s to 1960s are like time capsules, condensing the time of social transformation in Taiwan. Yang Jixin completed his studies in Japan before the war, and returned to Taiwan in 1946. In 1951, he joined the magazine “Harvest Years” issued by the “China Rural Union Rejuvenation Committee”, and was in charge of photography for 10 years. In 1962, he changed jobs and founded an advertising company. In 1999, after retirement, he held his first photography solo exhibition “Acacia Taiwan·Times Capsule”, which allowed the world to re-understand Yang Jixin’s photography creation.

The work of “Harvest Years” magazine gave Yang Jixin the opportunity to travel and go deep into the countryside of Taiwan. In the 1950s, in the reality of Taiwan’s geopolitics, Cold War, and US aid, the rural landscape before the transformation of the agricultural society and the realistic appearance of the city life. Under the international situation at that time, his working environment had abundant resources and photography conditions aided by the United States, and his own background in Japan allowed him to use a unique perspective and perspective to record the customs of Taiwan.

Zhou Zhigang’s “Poetic Photography” captures the majestic and changeable moments of nature through images, and also integrates the photographer’s emotional chanting of the external scenery with poetry and photography. Zhou Zhigang lived in Guangdong Province in mainland China in 1923 and joined the Telecommunications Bureau in Guangxi Province during the war. In 1946, he was sent to work in Taiwan with the Telecommunications Bureau of the National Government. In the 1950s, he joined the “Chinese Literature and Art Association” to promote photography art, and promoted the resumption of the “Chinese Photographic Society” in Taiwan with Lang Jingshan and others. In 1964, he assisted in launching the “Asian Photographic Arts Alliance”, linking Taiwan’s photographic circles with photographic art groups in Asia.

Zhou Zhigang advocated “poetic photography”, emphasizing that “the integration of poetry, calligraphy and painting is the highest state of creation of Chinese artists, and the integration of poetry and calligraphy into photography is also the ideal of photography creation”. Through photography and framing, he inscribes the emotion of “expressing emotion through scenery” on the photographic works through words. His works show the style of Chinese culture with “poetry” and “painting”. “Landscape Scenery” creates the majestic and open momentum of nature and the ever-changing scenes, while “Poetry and Calligraphy” conveys the noble, deep meaning and creative talent in the picture.

The exhibition uses different themes such as “Poetic Landscape”, “Mountains and Mountains Like Ink”, and “Ode to the Four Seasons”, showing Zhou Zhigang’s combination of photography and painting, brush and ink poetry, expressing the deep meaning of his vision and mind. In his works, he integrates poems and books into the frame of the scene, and expresses the artistic conception of photography with infinite emotion through the limited scene.

The National Photography Cultural Center said that photography miniaturizes time in a flat carrier, and the creator’s unique perspective brings to photography a meaningful meaning that penetrates the past and the present. The different life experiences and aesthetic views of the three photographers have produced unique and exquisite visual perspectives and creative themes. Viewers can not only perceive their passionate creative energy, but also experience the creative process of the photographers along the way. In the flow of time, they trace the diverse and rich historical traces of era, culture, society, and humanities captured by photography.

“Concentrating Light: 2023 Taiwan Photographers Centenary Collection Exhibition – Chang Longgao, Yang Jixin, Zhou Zhigang”, the exhibition period is from now until July 9, 2023 at the Taipei Pavilion of the National Photography Cultural Center. Welcome to the National Photography Cultural Center Following the viewing windows of the photographers, the audience witnessed the abundant aspects of Taiwan photography.

Responsible editor: Lin Yan