Lee Ming-tiao created a rich collection of female portraits. In 1948, he and Deng Nan-guang held a private photo session at the Shanglinhua Restaurant, which started the early salon photography. This kind of amateur photography activity mostly features restaurant hostesses as the subject matter, in the form of private or public photography sessions. Lee’s female models also include stars, bus hostess, and literati. The culture of amateur salon photography had its significance in post-war Taiwan. In 1945, Lee Ming-tiao, Chang Tsai and Deng Nan-guang of the “Three Musketeers of Photography” held regular Taipei Monthly Contests of Photography at the Rose Marie Gallery, which was renamed as Taipei Photography Salon. The occasion was a cradle of many photographic talents where the judges included Long Chin-san, Shan Jian-Zhou, Tang Sz-pan, and Huang Tse-hsiu.
In Nude, Lee Ming-tiao’s practice of capturing the beauty of human bodies can be seen. In the photograph, the naked woman sits on the ground in her profile with her whole body diagonally captured by the camera. The expression and identity of the model are not the main focus of this work. The theme is to present the lines of the body and the beauty of the shape. The overall solemn and elegant arrangement reveals Lee’s background in art. In his later female portraits, similar postures are often seen, in outdoor scenes such as Shalun Beach in Tamsui, but with a more unique perspective and composition, and the expression is more natural.
Liu Yi-hui, “2021 Compilation and Research Project of Metadata in Photography.”