NATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND IMAGES-Past Exhibitions

Whether mass historical states or bits of daily scenes can sink into the long river of age flowing to the irresistible passing of time. Invented in the 19th century, photography has become a medium between people and the past, attributed to its characteristics of representing the real world. Tangible Times: Masters of Photography from the NTMoFA and NCPI Collections presents the photographers' keen perspectives on capturing natural landscapes, ordinary life and society before and after World War II. Their works bear witness to the history while manifesting the spirit of the time.

The exhibition focuses on the photographic collections from the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA) and the National Center of Photography and Images (NCPI), and features over 60 works from five master photographers, Long Chin-San, Deng Nan-Guang, Chang Tsai, Lee Ming-Tiao and Cheng Shang-Hsi. The images reflect the photographers' views of diverse landscapes in Taiwan, China and Japan, demonstrating their capacities to be in conversations with the pulse of the times. Apart from the works on display, five documentaries of the photographers, directed by Wang Geng-Yu, are also on screen. Delving into the photographers’ life stories, the documentaries retrace the trajectories from their first encounters with photography, to explorations made throughout their careers, and the development of their visual languages, all of which provide plentiful clues for viewing, understanding and perceiving their works.

Exhibition Themes

LONG Chin-San
LONG Chin-San
Born in Jiangsu, China, Long Chin-San was fond of landscape painting and calligraphy as a child. He began practicing photography in middle school, and before he was invited to participate in a photography exhibition in 1949 and eventually settled in Taiwan, he had already won a number of awards at photography salons worldwide. The themes of Long's images stem from the environment he grew up in and his sentiments emanated by the political turmoil during his adulthood. The subjects he photographed throughout his life include landscapes, still-life, and human figures. The philosophy and aesthetics in traditional Chinese painting that he admired not only became the basis for the "composite picture-making" technique he developed, but also profoundly affected the aesthetics pursued by amateur photography groups in Taiwan. “Composite pictures” are made mostly in the darkroom by stitching parts of multiple negatives into a single image. This technique is based on what Long considered the ideal landscape compositions in traditional Chinese paintings and made possible by photography’s scientific qualities. This combination founded Long’s photography theory, which is the most celebrated achievement of his life-long career.
DENG Nan-Guang
DENG Nan-Guang
Deng Nan-Guang, originally named Deng Teng-Hui, was born in Beipu, Hsinchu. In the 1930s, he studied at Hosei University in Japan and joined its photography club. He was influenced by the aesthetics of the "Shinko Shashin" (New Photography) in Japan that emphasized street snapshots and qualities of objectiveness and realness. In 1935, Deng returned to Taiwan, started his "Nan-Guang Camera Shop" and kept on taking photos. Through the realistic aesthetics of Shinko Shashin, he caught the everyday life of Taipei and Hsinchu, keeping the images of Taiwan at that time in his works. After World War II, he reopened "Nan-Guang Photography Supplies" and actively participated in photography events. In 1948, Deng Nan-Guang, Chang Tsai and Lee Ming-Tiao won the top three in the 3rd anniversary photo contest of Taiwan Shinsheng Daily, and were referred to as the "Three Musketeers of Photography". Affected by the Shinko Shashin, Deng mostly used a small Leica camera to shoot on streets. In his works taken in Tokyo, streets signs, newsstands, and women in Western fashion reveal the modernity of Tokyo. The works taken in Beipu, Hsinchu reveal the rural scenes of live performance, tombs visiting, marriage, etc. In the photos taken in Taipei, street scenes, sport events, women at work, amateur photography events, represent various aspects of life in Taipei.
LEE Ming-Tiao
LEE Ming-Tiao
Lee Ming-Tiao is known as one of the "Three Musketeers of Photography" in Taiwan along with photographers Chang Tsai and Deng Nan-Guang. In his young adulthood, Lee worked as an apprentice at Dashi Photo Studio started by his uncle Liao Liang-Fu, and afterwards went to Taipei to work at Fuji Photo Studio, where he sharpened techniques in retouching negatives. After WWII, Lee opened his store Chung-Mei Photographic Supplies in Taipei and immersed himself in image making. He was also committed to promoting events of the photographic societies in Taiwan, and founded the first post-war photography magazine, Taiwan Camera Monthly. Lee’s works mix the styles of realist and salon photography: he often took his Rolleiflex camera to suburbs of Taipei to capture scenes on streets, at rural waterfronts, of children playing and laborers at work. Female appearance and posture were what his camera lens looked for as well. Lee carefully arranged the lighting and composition for each shot, and adopted approaches such as staged photography to construct the ideal scenery in his mind. Keeping his eyes on various aspects of Taiwanese society with affection, he left plentiful images of simplicity and rusticity in early years.
CHENG Shang-Hsi
CHENG Shang-Hsi
Cheng Shang-Hsi stepped onto his path of photography with a low-priced "Pigeon" camera. At age 18, he joined the Shinsui Photography Exhibition established by photographer Chang Tsai, and obtained the nourishment for his future creation from Chang's philosophy of rich humanistic care in photography. Influenced by the Western photography trends in the 1950s and 60s, he continuously experimented with lights and shadows in his works. After graduating from college, Cheng held a solo exhibition Birds at the Rose Marie Gallery. His images that precisely captured the vivid expressions of animals drew great attention. The most acclaimed “documentary” character in Cheng's works stems from his work experiences for the Photography Unit of Government Information Office, as well as his accumulation of experience in shooting his hometown Keelung and the mountainside town Jiufen. The selection of Cheng's works in this exhibition takes his Keelung series as the core, highlighting "natural, unpretentious humans, and the absence of photographer," the visual language Cheng pursued. Cheng captured the misty weather, the lifestyle of local residents, and the landscapes of the port city under industrial transformation, all in his richly emotive images.
CHANG Tsai
CHANG Tsai
Chang Tsai was born in Dadaocheng, Taipei. Influenced by his elder brother Chang Wei-Hsian, he played in New Drama as a child. In 1934, he went to study at Musashino School of Photography in Tokyo and befriended important figures of "Shinko Shashin" (New Photography). In 1936, he returned to Taiwan and opened Yingxin Photo Room, and continued taking photos. In 1941, he moved to Shanghai concessions to avoid the Pacific War. While taking photos in the Shanghai concessions, he also sharply captured the social tension therein. After the war, Chang Tsai opened Yingxin Photo Studio in Taiheicho, Taipei and took part in photo groups and contests. He won the first prize in the 3rd anniversary photography contest of Taiwan Shinsheng Daily in 1948 and was known as the "Three Musketeers of Photography" with Deng Nan-Guang and Lee Ming-Tiao. Chang Tsai also joined anthropologists to take photos of indigenous people in Miaoli, Pingtung, Lanyu, etc., showing their simple, confident temperaments in his photos, or to take photos of religious ceremonies in Dadaocheng, Shinchuang, and Sanshia. His photos thus keep precious image records of Taiwan in the past.