chang*

i visited the south beach exhibition of the biennale today and to be honest, it was quite a let-down, as compared to the showcase at city hall. still, i managed to take some photos and here i am sharing them.

^ this exhibit challenges the viewer’s perception of space and time, for the form on the wall seems to shift as one walks from one end of the area to the other.

^ salon; a mirror image.

^ lines to nowhere.

after that, i was off to the national museum to view this exhibition by world-renowned taiwanese photographer chang chien-chi, who is also a member of the prestigious magnum agency.

his works clearly center upon people and their relationship to each other. the space at the museum held 3 of his collections – ‘double happiness’, ‘the chain’ and ‘china town’.

‘double happiness’ is a document of the influx of vietnamese brides to taiwan in early 2000. ‘the chain’ is a series of portraits of pairs of individuals who are mentally-deranged, sent to a kaoshiung temple for treatment, which the monks there administer by chaining them in twos. ‘china town’ follows the lives of taiwanese immigrants to new york as they leave their loved ones behind in search of opportunities.

what can be said about chang’s photography is that they appear more human than human, transcending time and space in reaching out to viewers. his exploration of alienation, relationships and the human condition is starkly captured in a methodical manner.

below are some photos that i shot. i  tried to interpret some of the works personally.

^ bride parade.

^ what you see above is actually a still i captured off a video showing the process of how the potential brides are paraded along a wall for the men to view.

^ two fellow visitors watching the video depiction of chang’s ‘china town’.

^ the chain. i deliberately added the motion blur while taking this shot to convey the instability of madness. the startling thing about these portraits is the calm and in certain cases contentment on the faces of the subjects, chained up like animals or convicts.

to view more of chang chien-chi’s works, click here.

for larger sizes as well as to view the rest of the photos, click here.

for more posts on photography, click here.