In late 1994, Lin Meng-shan and I visited Tsai Ming-liang just after Tsai had won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his Vive l'Amour. Tsai was impressed by Lin's keen eye, and persuaded him to go into film, an industry for which the outlook was then uncertain. Lin has since gone on to do still photography for a number of films, including The River, A Chance to Die, and Woman Soup.

Taiwan's film industry has since gone into decline, with fewer and fewer movies made every year. As a result, Lin has worked only intermittently on film projects during his ten years in the industry. Every time he rails about how little respect there is for the people who work behind the scenes, about the poor pay, the long hours, and the way that kudos accrue only to actors and to big-name directors who are able to secure the financing for their films, he promises that the next time he shoots a picture of an actor, he's going to also take one of one of the nameless heroes that work behind the scenes. I've been eagerly anticipating this project for ages, but Lin has been even more eager to bring another project to a close--his 14 years chronicling Taiwanese youth culture.

Lin's youth has truly lasted longer than that of most people, and he has previously exhibited photos documenting everything from the excesses of Taiwan's street racers to shots of naked temple "door guardians." His most recent exhibition reveals his deep love of music.

Lin is a straightforward man with powerful likes and dislikes and a strong sense of right and wrong. Though in his 40s, his fashion sense--he typically goes around in earrings, baggy trousers and a T-shirt, and carries a large backpack--and the amount of time he spends zipping around to concerts large and small on his scooter give the impression of a young man who begins to groove at the first hint of a beat. Perhaps it is this air that has allowed him to dive into the youth scene and enabled him to bond so readily with young musicians.

The years he has spent looking at the world through a camera's lens have also given Lin a sharp eye for talent--many of the bands and singers he photographed as unknowns have since gone on to pop stardom. His current exhibition brings together precious, rarely seen images documenting the meteoric rise of rock music in Taiwan.

When Lin opened his What If It Matters exhibition in early July, he published the catalog himself. As a further testament to his faith in his photos, he printed the images full page, without a word of text in the entire volume, and painted the catalogs' metal packaging by hand. Perhaps, with this limited run of 1,000 volumes, the artist is selling out his already lost youth. But the catalog nonetheless captures the pounding heartbeat of Taiwanese rock and roll, chronicling the history of an era in the bodies rocking on its pages.

Doris, bassist for heavy-metal band Chthonic, photographed during the 2005 Formoz Festival at Taipei's Yuanshan Children's Recreational Center.

Formed in 1998, WonFu is known for its peppy tunes. The band hit it big for a time last year after the Association of Music Workers in Taiwan rated one if its songs a Top Ten Single.

Mayday guitarist Masa. Mayday and BackQuarter performed together in front of the Panchiao train station in Taipei County in 1999, laying the groundwork for the Hohaiyan Rock Festival at Kungliao.

Aboriginal folk singer Kimbo released his first CD, In a Flash, in 2005. In the photo, Kimbo and his wife pray before a press conference held at Taipei's Red House Theatre.