In 1951, Lin Chuan-tsu took over his father’s “Lin Photo Studio” (Lin Shashin-kan), one of the earliest photo studios in Taiwan, and renamed it as “Lin Photo Studio” (Lin Zhaoxiang Guan). Apart from the heavily loaded business, taking pictures everywhere remained a great pleasure to him as he constantly improved various photography techniques and expressions.
According to his son Lin Chuan-hsiu’s oral depiction recalling his father’s work at the photo studio, Lin Chuan-tsu’s favorite tune, Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” was often heard. Perhaps Lin Chuan-tsu was inspired by the melodious music, giving his works a richer emotion and style under the subtle influence. He tried to find a deeper or broader way of interpretation. He visualized the conception of birds flying freely in a form of art, incorporated the aesthetics of salon photography and personal emotions at the same time.
The Spreading Wings series reflects his consistent style and discreetness, such as the mastery of dynamic moments, the treatment of backlighting, and the exploration of themes, which allow the works to show multiple aspects of interpretive possibilities. This image is shot at an elevation angle to portray a lone bird flying high with its wings. The thin and transparent wings under the backlight as well as the sharp beak and the straight feet that appear almost diagonally make the picture full of tension.
Sun Wei-xuan, “2021 Compilation and Research Project of Metadata in Photography.”