The modern photography movement in Taiwan
began around 1965 and lasted for around ten years.
It is important to note the American influence on
Taiwanese photography during this period. After
World War II, the U.S. army established bases on
the island. Taiwan shed Japanese influence, and
absorbed American culture and art, motivating
photographers and shaping the development of
photography. Key figures in this development are
JANG Jao-tang, HU Yung, Hsieh Chun-de among
others, who used wide-angle lenses to create dis-
torted images, favored high contrast between light
and dark, a rough grain, and blurry or out-of-focus
images. This tendency did not pervade the entire
photographic field in Taiwan, but rather was con-
fined to a group of photographers who held joint
exhibitions. One of these was in 1969 and presented
the works of eight photographers active in this
movement. Ambitious photographers made a num-
ber of attempts to increase the awareness of mod-
ern trends in photography. A photographic festival
was dedicated to modern photography in 1966.
Two important magazines began publication:
Photo Centuryin 1970 andModern Photography
in 1976.
Riding the wave of this cultural change, V-10 was
a photography group founded in 1971. It aimed to
promote discussion among the modern art, photo-
graphy, and visual media. The founding members
included JOU Dung-guo, Hu Yung, NING Ming-
shen, GUO Ying-shen, JANG Guo-shiung, Jang
Jao-tang, JUNG Ling, YE Jeng-liang, LUNG Sz-
liang, SHIE Jen-ji; and by 1973 the group ex-
panded to include HUANG Yung-sung, Shie
Chuen-de, JANG Tan-li, LIU Chen-tzuo, LI Chi-
hua, WU Wen-tao. None of them continued to be
full-time independent photographers, working
instead for newspapers, TV stations, advertising
companies, and filmmakers. Some of the founding
members had participated in experimental theater
and film. Their photographs were frequently pub-
lished inPhoto Century, an important magazine
for modern photography in Taiwan. While not
sharing a unified aesthetic principle, these photo-
graphers participated in several group shows in
the 1970s.
Reportage Photography from the 1970s to
1990s
Despite the efforts of some photographers, photo-
graphy in Taiwan was dominated by photojourn-
alism the mid 1970s and 1980s. The development of
this style is associated with several political events
of the period, a tumultuous period of political and
international relations. In 1971, Taiwan was forced
out of the United Nations, and in the same year,
Japan’s government took possession of a small
island which both Taiwan and Mainland China
claimed as theirs. The sovereignty of Taiwan,
threatened by absorption into China, became a
critical issue that provoked the awareness of photo-
graphers and artists; they sought to identify and
preserve Taiwan’s culture, society, and people.
Photography in Taiwan during those 20 years
thus developed into a style of social realism,
which was prevalent in photography magazines,
popular magazines, and newspapers.
It is important to point out that several photo-
graphers had started to work in a reportage style in
the 1960s, particularly JANG Shr-shian, CHENG
Shang-his, and HSU Ching-po.
Cheng Shang-his was a leading reportage photo-
grapher who worked for three important maga-
zines. After its publications, his Story of the
HungYe Baseball Teamwas regarded as one of the
early examples of reportage photography in Tai-
wan. Another of his well-known works isThe Ser-
ies of Jilung(1960–1965) which records the change
in his hometown. He was inspired by his teacher,
Chang Tsai, and he used a snapshot style with
simple and straightforward compositions in captur-
ing his subjects. His student, JANG Jao-tung, later
became a very active and important reportage
photographer, and in 1965 the two held a two-
man show dedicated to modern photography.
The emergence of several photography magazines
and newspapers was essential to advocate and popu-
larize the style, allowing serious photojournalists to
emerge, including WANG Xhin, LIANG Jeng-jiu,
and LIU Chen-hsiang.
Echomagazine was first published in 1971; it
aimed to introduce Chinese culture and create cul-
tural exchange between the West and the East. In
1978, the magazine dispensed with its English ver-
sion and instead launched a version in Chinese that
featured a special issue on Chinese photography. It
encouraged interest in reportage on the motifs of
Taiwanese culture, and exclusively displayed their
works, including those of HUANG Yung-sung and
JUNG I-jong. The aim of these reportage photo-
graphers was to discover the neglected arenas of life
in Taiwan, and they played a pioneering role in this
wide-spread cultural phenomenon, which also
attracted the contribution of novelists and other
artists. These photographers were also involved in
organizational and editorial works.
In 1973, GAO Shin-jiang, the editor of the sec-
tion of Art and Literature inThe Times in Taiwan,CHINA AND TAIWAN, PHOTOGRAPHY IN