VOP Issue 18 : 攝影書作為方法 Photobook As Method

As a magazine concerned with the interpretation of images and photography publications, VOP has featured special showcases like the “Taiwan Photobook Issue” in 2012 and “Dialogue On Taiwan Photobook Publishing” in 2014. This year we launch another showcase which explores books to see the development of photography, with the hope of leaving the future with a report on the photography culture of today through discussion and writing.

In preparation of this issue’s showcase, we called for submissions of photography publications in Taiwan last year, which saw a variety of photography books and handmade books from both publishers and individual authors submitted, featuring many facets of photography which would be selected for this issue. At the same time, we invited scholars-cum-critics like Jow-Jiun Gong and Shih-Lun Chang and designer Yung-Chen Nieh to engage in dialogue to critique and comment on aspects such as the visual effects, design, history right up to the publishing market’s direction of growth in Taiwan. Also, we specially put together a feature connecting new photography organizations and publishers from the Asia-Pacific region, such as those from Singapore, Philippines, Japan, China and Australia etc, highlighting the Asia-Pacific viewpoints as a prolific study of regional photography publishing.

This issue carries an interview with photography academic Hsueh-Sheng Chen, looking into a research area which he had spent years on and recently released findings on– Republican Chinese photography from 1911 to 1949, talking about the development of photographic art in this tumultuous period, the glorious years of photography pictorials and the remaining influence of Republican Chinese photography in Taiwan, while sharing his prize collection of rare, early photography publications. Along with this are reviews of photography books, including Chia-Chi Chen’s in-depth critique of I-Jong Juan’s recent efforts to re-present images of the 1980s and Chiu-Hung Liang’s discussion on the perspectives of colonization and de-colonization in photography using A History of Korean Photography. Our feature Yong-Seng Hsiao’s History of Photography in Taiwan series focuses on post-Yi-Wei War Japanese Guards Division chief Kitashirakawanomiya Yoshihisa’s photographs taken after his landing in Taiwan, exploring the history of the tactics of Japanese colonial masters in using Shinto idealism to enhance their rulership of Taiwan. We present Kimura Ihei Memorial Photography Award winner Ryuichi Ishikawa’s series of Okinawan portraits in our Artist’s Showcase, along with his own story on Okinawans’ art and his photography journey.