Taiwan has a diverse and rich religious culture due to its unique history. The Taiwanese people often find comfort and support in religious beliefs to help them navigate different circumstances and challenges in life. Meanwhile, whether it is out of an understanding of religious beliefs or associating specific religious ideas with their works, photographers in Taiwan have captured the spiritual connections between humans and gods in the context of contemporary Taiwanese religious beliefs. As Martin Heidegger has stated, after entering “modernity,” humanity has taken the central stage of the world and begun perceiving it through “technology,” which led to the flight of the gods. However, amidst the advancement of our civilization, humans cannot find a spiritual dwelling place and reach “the other shore” after parting from the gods. Thus, photographers use images to represent the search and pursuit of gods. Whether this is done from a nostalgic or dialectic perspective, their purpose is to remind or question the self or the spectator.
This curatorial endeavor features samples from significant works of Taiwanese photography and image art. Through the showcased works, the goal is to delineate how Taiwanese photographers have utilized distinctive image language in dissimilar eras and contexts to express ideas about religious beliefs. The terms “gods” and “sentient beings” denote varied religious perspectives from the East and the West. However, these concepts have been integrated into and evolved within the Taiwanese culture, reflecting similar and corresponding concerns and questions about life.
According to Buddhist beliefs, sentient “beings” experience continuous reincarnation as a result of karmic retribution. Throughout this cycle, they encounter various life circumstances, both positive and negative, in various forms and identities, all the whole hoping to break from this endless cycle. Through photography, photographers sometimes observe people’s yearning for spiritual salvation; at other times they remind reviewers of life’s constant changes and illusions; and sometimes they express their own beliefs through their photographs. While each photographer may have a different approach, their work reflects humanity’s quest to understand the mysteries of life and the longing to transcend to the other shore.