This section highlights two photographers: Qi Deng Sheng (Liu Wu-Hsiung) and Quo Ying-Sheng, whose photography, like literary writing, reveals subtle emotional shifts through intimate perspectives. Their viewfinders, reminiscent of solitary lights in an isolated room, illuminate internal voids and capture emotions and mental states on film. Their photographic language, enriched by stream-of-consciousness techniques and introspective monologues, transforms external forms into mental imagery, producing images that reflect postwar “modernist thought” but also express a cry against the loneliness of youth.
Quo Ying-Sheng’s pervasive loneliness and solitude have shaped a consistent emotional mood since childhood and inspired his works. His images featuring themes of desolation and abruptness serve as his means of self-expression. Having experienced eras of martial law and censorship, both the real and surreal realms of silence constantly appear in his work. Qi Deng Sheng utilized writing to construct his identity, exploring subjects such as childhood trauma, erotica, and life’s contexts through his art. He published Return to the Sand River in 1986, combining images and writings that depict both reality and dreams. As he captured the melancholic scenes of the “Sand River,” his camera also forever preserved his reflection and self-examination.