In retrospect, the emergence of photography has not only rewritten humans’ perspectives but also influenced literary writing. Photos can be more than just a window that reflects reality but, at the same time, a space that houses creativity and imagination. Books, a symbol of humans’ thoughts and civilization, started showcasing a new relationship between images and texts, while perspectives of cameras also appeared in works of literature. A Gentle Breeze invites five contemporary writers to step into the viewing of images and the practice of exhibition from the perspective of literature. As texts and images complement each other, the abstract understanding of reading metamorphosizes into sensuous intuition. This process turns both viewing and reading into a unique experience and demonstrates possibilities of dialogue between the history of photography and its connection to memory. Texts, photography, and writing spark the existential meaning of symbiosis, guiding the reading of images towards changing aesthetics. This exhibition section can thus be interpreted as a resonance between photography and literature, revealing the subtlety of human nature and the true meaning of life through the act of writing.
Liu Wai Tong is a poet, critic, and photographer from Hong Kong. He is the recipient of the Youth Literary Awards (Hong Kong), Hong Kong Awards for Chinese Literature, the Literature Awards of China Times (Taiwan), United Daily News Prize (Taiwan), Hong Kong Biennale Awards for Literature, and the 2012 Writer of the Year by Hong Kong Arts Development Awards. Liu Wai Tong lives in Taiwan now.
Liu Wai Tong has published more than ten books of poetry, including Eight Foot Snow Spell, Ghost Whispers, Cherry and King Kong, and A Light That Ever Shone Never Extinguished, among others. His collection of speeches is Roses Bloom Without Causes: 40 Narrow Paths toward Modern Poetry, and his collection of literary criticism is the serial work Dystopia Guide. Liu Wai Tong’s collections of essays include Night Walk in Brocade Robe, Looking for Tsangyang Gyatso and Affectionate Branches. His collection of fiction is War Game in Eighteen Alleys, and his photography albums are Lonely China, Paris Photos de Scène Sans Titre, Looking for Tsangyang Gyatso, and The Darkening Planet, among others.