I was a Taipei-born, twenty-seven-year-old youth who loved photography. Upon arriving in Shanghai, I noticed stark differences in customs and habits—some very modern, others ancient. The social divide between the rich and poor was vast, as was the intellectual gap. Gangs were rampant and lawless, fostering an environment of apathy where people sometimes even refused to help the dying. These experiences deeply shocked me. As a result, I instinctively started photographing everything I saw whenever I had free time! — Chang Tsai
This quote is the most frequently cited statement by Chang Tsai (1916–1994) in discussions of his Shanghai Series. It is also widely regarded as the clearest and most direct explanation of the background of these photographs. Since its thematic release in 1989, the Shanghai Series has received widespread attention. Notably, the Liu Haisu Art Museum in Shanghai held a solo exhibition of the photographer’s work in 2010, marking the first time this series was exhibited locally. Chinese photography historian Gu Zheng (顧錚) posits that these photographs fill a critical void in the urban iconography of Shanghai in the 1940s. (Note 1) For Chang Tsai, the Shanghai Series undoubtedly marked the beginning of his photographic practice. His subsequent representative works, created after his return to Taiwan—focusing on folk festivals, indigenous peoples, and street life—were all brilliant continuations built on this foundation. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Series exhibits distinctive visual attributes and a realistic gaze that set it apart from his other series, thereby highlighting its unique significance and value.
Chang Tsai: A Taiwanese Youth Passionate About Photography
In the 1950s, Chang Tsai, together with Deng Nan-Guang (鄧南光, 1907–1971) and Lee Ming-Tiao (李鳴鵰, 1922–2013), was widely regarded as one of the “Three Musketeers of Photography.” Born into a prosperous family in Dadaocheng, Taipei, with roots among wealthy merchants and distinguished Confucian scholars, Chang was deeply inspired from childhood by his older brother, Chang Wei-Hsien (張維賢, 1905–1977), who was a passionate trailblazer in theater and recognized as the “First Man of Taiwan’s New Drama.” Following his brother’s path, Chang Tsai also took on small roles in the New Drama scene. Although still young and inexperienced, these early experiences subtly broadened his worldview and fostered a sense of social awareness.
In 1934, to develop a specialized skill, Chang Wei-Hsien arranged for Chang Tsai to study photography in Tokyo. He refined his craft at the Tōyō Shashin Gakkō (Toyo School of Photography), the Musashino Shashin Gakkō (Musashino School of Photography), and the Kōgei Shashin Kenkyūjo (Research Institute of Craft Photography) at the Kudō Shashinkan (Kudo Photo Studio). During the 1930s, Japan’s art scene rapidly engaged in exchange with the West. Through his older brother, Chang met prominent figures of the “Shinko Shashin” (New Photography) movement, including playwright Murayama Tomoyoshi (1901–1977), photographer Horino Masao (1907–1998), and Kimura Senichi (1900–1938), editor of Shashin Jidai (Photo Times), who greatly influenced him.
“New Photography” advocated for photography as a standalone art form and for photographers to develop a unique visual language specific to the medium. To achieve this, they emphasized mastering optical, scientific, and technical skills while prioritizing the capture of the zeitgeist. Their work mainly focused on conveying the modern experience, featuring street snapshots, the vernacular life of ordinary people, and the emergence, changes, and peripheral areas of the city.
While studying in Japan, Chang witnessed a flourishing era of Japanese photographic theory. He collected inspiring images and articles from photography magazines, organizing them into categorized scrapbooks that served as paradigmatic examples in developing his epistemological framework. The Shanghai Series ultimately represented the culmination and extension of this educational foundation.
After completing his studies in 1936, Chang returned to Taiwan and opened the Ying Xin Photography Studio (影心寫場) on Taiyuan Road in Taipei. He ran the studio casually, and it drew more visits from cultural figures than from paying customers. Meanwhile, Chang often carried his Leica camera to capture images from excursions with friends, displaying the air of a refined dandy. When the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, the development of New Drama was severely restricted, prompting Chang Wei-Hsien to move his business to Shanghai. In late 1941, as the Pacific War began, Chang Tsai, along with his wife, Chang Pao-Feng, and their infant eldest son, moved the entire family to Shanghai to avoid conscription by the Japanese army and to care for his elderly mother, who was already living there. This decision marked a major turning point in his photographic career.
Shanghai: The “Demon City (Mato)” Where Heaven and Hell Coexist
Chang Tsai lived in Shanghai between 1942 and 1946. Despite being just four years, this period encompassed significant events: the Japanese military’s complete occupation of Shanghai, its subsequent defeat and surrender, and the tumultuous period of the Chinese Civil War.
Shanghai, described by Japanese writer Muramatsu Shōfū (1889–1961) as the “Demon City (Mato),” transformed from a small fishing village into a modern international metropolis in less than a century. Compelled to open to foreign trade by the Treaty of Nanking (1842), Britain, the United States, and France successively established concessions in Shanghai, precipitating a wave of Westernization across commerce, daily life, and culture. During the “Solitary Island” period (Note 2), a considerable influx of population and capital caused the concessions to burgeon into what writer Lu Qiguo (陸其國, 1954–) described as an “abnormal prosperity.”
In 1942, Chang Tsai traveled to Shanghai on a Japanese passport. The stark contrast between the city’s opulent wealth and its starving, impoverished population was a profound psychological shock to him. On weekdays, he helped run his brother’s business; in his free time, he explored the city streets with his Leica camera. Carefully observing and moving through the urban landscape, he regarded the camera as an extension of his senses, capturing the complex reality of a city where heaven and hell coexisted.
In 2010, when the Liu Haisu Art Museum organized the exhibition Fading Shadows and Flowing Light: Chang Tsai Photography Exhibition (逝影流光：張才攝影展), the curatorial team retraced the photographer’s journey and identified two main photographic areas: the first was Hongkou and Zhabei along the northern bank of the Suzhou Creek; the second was the busy central area from the Bund through Nanjing Road to the Shanghai Racecourse, which then extended into nearby neighborhoods.
The National Center of Photography and Images currently holds 114 works by Chang Tsai in its collection, including 57 from the Shanghai Series. The themes explored in these works can be divided into the following: iconic Western-style architecture, modes of transportation, the coexistence of Chinese and foreigners, commercial entertainment, and everyday civilian life. Chang primarily used a snapshot approach, capturing candid, spontaneous scenes with his subjects unaware, thus illustrating daily life on the streets of Shanghai. The reason he was able to remain rational and cool-headed, with keen awareness and quick reflexes, was partially due to the Leica camera’s compact design. The Leica I (A), introduced in Germany in 1925, revolutionized photography by offering portability lacking in traditional large-format cameras. Given Shanghai’s political sensitivity and wartime context, along with Chang’s ability to communicate in Japanese and the discreetness of his small camera, he could photograph street scenes freely and without hindrance.
This historical context also highlights the broader identity crisis experienced by many Taiwanese youths traveling to mainland China during that era, who “were Taiwanese with Japanese passports.” As an outsider conducting visual exploration in a city shaped by a long history of semi-colonialism, and at a time when Shanghai was fully under Japanese control, this naturally prompts the question: “How is subjectivity formed and defined within the images of Chang Tsai’s Shanghai Series?” Regarding this, Chinese scholar Gu Zheng (顧錚), noting the calmness of the images, states that “the compositions are full, the visuals are straightforward and pure, and the capturing of the moment is decisive... offering a new framework and space for examining new relationships in terms of the divide of personal identity that might otherwise lead to conflict and tension.” (Note 3) One could also argue that, rather than contemplating identity through a nationalist lens, Chang’s Shanghai Series focuses more on the existential condition of “humans” amid the process of modernization. As a result, these images transcend geographical and temporal limits, enabling a discourse from a broader, macrocosmic viewpoint.
The Shanghai Series: The First Milestone of His Photographic Career
Living in Shanghai—a city marked by a blend of old and new influences, where Chinese and Western people coexist—Chang Tsai demonstrated flexible photographic techniques in his Shanghai Series. For example, in Tramway Intersection, shot from a high vantage point across from the Metropole Hotel, he captures modern cars and trucks alongside traditional rickshaws and animal-drawn carts in the same frame. In Dough Figurine, he focuses closely on the craftsman’s skill and the children’s smiles. The subject in Guangdong Chef, the roast meat maker, looking directly into the camera, recalls The Pastry Cook (1928) by August Sander (1876–1964) or Paul Strand’s portraits of struggling individuals. Additionally, in the Burning Opium on June 3 series, like a photojournalist, Chang uses a sequence of photos to document the destruction of confiscated opium and its paraphernalia on Anti-Tobacco Day (June 3). At the time, his actions also led to interrogation by the military and police authorities.
Meanwhile, Chang highlighted the drastic wealth disparity in Shanghai through compositional contrast. For instance, in Old Woman Selling Boiled Water on the Street, modern Western high-rises stand prominently in the background, sharply contrasting with rickshaw pullers and an elderly woman selling boiled water by the roadside in the foreground. Even among Shanghai’s foreign residents, he observed a clear divide between street vendors selling second-hand clothes and well-dressed, fashionable white-collar workers or upper-class individuals. Chang depicted the lives of these different social groups with an objective, egalitarian perspective. He once commented:
“The word ‘shin’ (truth) in ‘shashin’ (photography) refers to ‘reality,’ meaning to confront the ‘truth’ of phenomena in everyday life.”
“My passion for photography is in capturing everything, including fleeting moments ‘in passing.’ It does not have to be an ‘artistic’ scene. A single photo can reveal various social aspects and the culture of a time—whether it is everyday life, customs, or religion—all of which are included naturally.”
That is why Taiwanese photography researcher Hsiao Yung-Sheng (蕭永盛) states that “Chang Tsai’s photographic vitality was truly ignited in Shanghai.” The Shanghai Series captures a vibrant historical character and offers a clear, direct observation of society and its people. “Undoubtedly, it was the beginning of Chang Tsai’s photographic career—his first milestone.”
In 1948, Chang held his first solo exhibition at Taipei’s Zhongshan Hall, showcasing 51 photographs, including scenes of vernacular life in Shanghai. However, it was not until 1989, during his second solo exhibition, curated by Chien Yung-Ping (簡永彬) at the Sunnygate Photography Gallery (夏門攝影藝廊), that this collection was exhibited as a complete thematic series and gained notable recognition. Despite this, Chang had always felt the Shanghai Series was incomplete and longed to return to Shanghai to continue his work there. This wish finally came true in 1992, when Chang, at 77 years old, traveled to Shanghai for 10 days with his wife, daughter, and friend Hsiao Yung-Sheng. Over the course of fifty years, Shanghai had transformed dramatically. After Chang returned to Taiwan, his health gradually declined until his death in 1994, leaving a priceless visual legacy.
Note 1: In his essay, “The Photography of Chang Tsai, Considered from Several Angles” (2010), Gu Zheng notes that Shanghai in the early 20th century was China’s most modern international metropolis and a crucial hub for the development of modern culture. Yet, local photography during that period showed little sensitivity to the urban environment and modern life, rarely focusing on scenes of contemporary life. Gu suggests that Chang Tsai’s Shanghai Series fills this gap.
Note 2: After the Japanese military invaded Shanghai in 1937, they occupied the areas outside the International Settlement, turning it into an urban “island” surrounded by Japanese troops. By late 1941, with the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese army moved into the concessions, ending the “Solitary Island” period and taking complete control of Shanghai.
Note 3: See Note 1.
References:
Chang, Chao-tang. “A Photographer of the University of Society: Chang Tsai.” Aspects and Visions—Taiwan Photographers: Chang Tsai. Taipei City: Culture and Life Publishing, 1995.
Hsiao, Yung-Sheng. Photographic Mind・Direct Emotion・Chang Tsai. Taipei City: Hsiung Shih Art Book, 2001.
Chien, Yung-Pin, Chang Chao-Tang, et al. Chang Tsai. Taipei City: Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2010.
Gu, Zheng, et al. Fading Shadows and Flowing Light: The Photography of Chang Tsai. Shanghai: Liu Haisu Art Museum, 2010.
Wang, Ke-Chung. “A Photographic Study on Chang Tsai’s Shanghai Series (1942-1946).” Master’s Thesis, Graduate Program of Visual Arts Education, Taipei Municipal University of Education, 2011.