[Picture Caption]
p.20
Beam placing ceremony during the rebuilding of the main hall of Yangmei's Hsifukung temple. 1948. Wu Chin-miao. Just look, the last time Hsifukung was rebuilt was only 37 years ago. Why do they need to chop the trees down and build it again? If it's really necessary, they could just repair the existing building. and he'd make suggestions too. The people in the photo are all locals who made the bigger donations.
p.21
Pokung Hill. 1933-35. Wu Chin-miao. "When the matchmaker speaks of marriage, the girl lowers her head, covers her face and looks away. Her snow-white teeth bite the corner of her kerchief; how truly, truly enchanting." Do you recognize the background? It's the trees on Pokung Hill. They're over 200 years old, how could they want to chop them down? The person second from the right is the old mayor's wife, and the one on the far right is now a hunched old woman, but in the campaign last year she came every day. This was taken near the end of the Japanese period. The Hakka women no longer wore their hair in a "cockscomb." These were all unmarried young women.
p.22
Fuhua Street, Yangmei. 1957. Wu Chin-jung. "Old folk have old folk's luck, don't say old folk are worthless; selling gourd ladles at the crossroads, the older they are, the more they're worth." Three doors down from us was Huang Jung-sheng, a merchant. When his mother was 91 he held a ceremony to celebrate her longevity, and invited everyone in Yangmei over 70. Couples with the husband and wife both still living even got a red envelope of money. My father is in the picture too. That day I took the 6-inch camera and tripod, but it wasn't tall enough so I had to raise up the camera and stand on a stool to see. Some Hakkas don't like celebrating their longevity, for fear of reminding the King of Heaven that he's missed them.
p.23
Pig-Raising. 1943. Wu Chin-miao. This is our neighbor on the Street, Wu Ah-tsan. He ran a canteen and also raised pigs. He suddenly got the urge to ask my brother to come and take a photo. In those days most families would raise several sows and one boar to offer at the Yimin festival. In the old days you had to raise them yourself, but now people buy them to offer. In fact, you can't bring yourself to eat them eat of a pig you raised yourself.
p.24
Tahua Street, Yangmei. 1943. Wu Chin-miao. This was a public fitness campaign in Yangmei under the Japanese. At six or seven every morning, everyone went out on the street to do exercises, and there were even competitions. The man in uniform on the right is the policeman who supervised and did the roll-call. The word for photo on the Chin-miao studio sign wasn't changed from Japanese to Chinese until 1951. The arcaded houses on Old Street were all replaced four years ago.
p.25
Yangmei Theater. 1945. Wu Chin-miao. Yangmei Theater was on Yangmei's main street. During the Japanification campaign, it played nothing but Japanese shows. After Retrocession it was refurbished. This was taken on 25 October 1945 at the big public ceremony to celebrate Taiwan's return to China. The speaker is the first acting mayor, Fanchiang Ping.
p.26
Yangmei Elementary School. 1945. Wu Chin-miao. This was taken on 17 November 1945, when the officers of the 1st Battali on of the 320th Regiment of the 107th Division of the 7th Army took charge of the heavy field artillery pieces of the Japanese army at Yangmei. It's taken on a glass plate. Without this photo, the others would be incomplete. But will there be any trouble about using this photo? If there's any problem, can it be sorted out?
p.27
Yangmei Middle School. 1953. Wu Chin-jung. When I went out that day I took two plates. They were 12-inch aerial photography film. On one I took the US military advisors' team with local people, and on the other I took them with their families. This isn't where the team were staying, it's what is now Yangmei Middle School, but this gate to the military camp is long gone. The shot is very natural, isn't it?
p.28
Wu brothers and family, c. 1944. I'm the only one in our family who's seen this picture. When mother was still alive she was always saying:"Chin-miao, develop it and lets have a look." But he was always busy and never developed it. It wasn't until this Chinese New Year that I made this 8-inch plate. I don't remember why it was taken, but I do remember it was taken with natural light from the skylight of the old studio, and with light reflected by a mirror. Chin-miao arranged the shot, and a friend released the shutter. On the left is my sister Min-chu, and the dog on the right was called Beauty.
p.29
Liang Kuo-lung (organizer of Yangmei Centenary Arts Season, born 1959):
UP until now Mr. Wu has given us over 200 old photographs, and from among them I have chosen 113 for an exhibition and book. It would not have been appropriate for the selection to be made entirely by him, because he was personally involved and so cannot be fully objective. An example is the photograph of the group of American military advisors. From his point of view, to have been so calm as a young lad in front of a group of Americans in those days was something to be very proud of. But the photograph itself is purely documentary, and not artistically creative.
I hope this exhibition will provide an opportunity for artistic appreciation, and not merely nostalgia over grainy yellow photos. That is why I have rephotographed, retouched and recropped each of the images. I want to stress that this is not simply "reproduction," but a second creative process, which is why the copyright page of the book states both the source of the old photographs and the maker of the new ones. In the exhibition, too, we won't give explanations in the "old photos tell a story" style. We'll simply mark the location, year and photographer. "Looking Back at Yangmei" is the first book I'm doing specially for Chin-miao and Chin-jung. It mainly contains pictures of individuals, families, businesses, buildings, ceremonies and major events. I hope to bring out others on different topics later.
Suan Hooi Wah (executive director, Taipei Photo Gallery International, born 1953):
I once worked on the Council for Cultural Planning and Development's "A Century of Photography in Taiwan" historical program, collecting materials and conducting interviews about technical aspects. Old photographs are very much in vogue now, and Taipei Photo Gallery International put on an exhibit which was quite well received. A while ago two young American photographers came to Taiwan to look for the "oriental aesthetic" in photography, and they were very surprised to find that Taiwan's old photographs have a very modern feel, in line with Cartier-Bresson's idea of the "decisive moment."
Chin-miao and his brother were unsophisticated, conservative small-town photographers, and did not have much contact with the outside world, but perhaps this allowed them to keep their originality. But we clearly haven't seen all his work yet.
My basic attitude towards exhibiting old photos is that one should see all the photographer's work, and whenever possible exhibit the original print in its original size. From the point of view of photographic history, these old photos aren't actually that old, and their aesthetic is not so far removed from that of young people today. The important factor is that the old photos document history and their era. We should try to preserve the photographer's real intentions as far as we can.
Wu Chin-jung (owner of Chin-miao Photographic Studio, born 1924):
You want me to pick the photo I'm most satisfied with? How do I know which one's best? Photographers shouldn't force their own ideas on people, the photo has to please the customer. So really it's you who should tell me which one.
You young people like photographs to be natural, but not me. If someone has a daft expression on their face, their head is tilted or they've got grease on their lips, that's my responsibility.
Old people's sense of dignity is different from young people's too. You say they'll look better from a slight profile, but after I develop it they'll ask me:"How come I've only got one ear?" And the mouth should be closed to look dignified.
Me and my brother are small-timers. Are we good enough for an exhibition? Are we up to standard? These photos won't cause any trouble, will they? You don't know any of the people in them, so what is there to look at? Are they really OK? Don't go making a fool of me!
Pokung Hill. 1933-35. Wu Chin-miao. "When the matchmaker speaks of marriage, the girl lowers her head, covers her face and looks away. Her snow-white teeth bite the corner of her kerchief; how truly, truly enchanting." Do you recognize the background? It's the trees on Pokung Hill. They're over 200 years old, how could they want to chop them down? The person second from the right is the old mayor's wife, and the one on the far right is now a hunched old woman, but in the campaign last year she came every day. This was taken near the end of the Japanese period. The Hakka women no longer wore their hair in a "cockscomb." These were all unmarried young women.
Fuhua Street, Yangmei. 1957. Wu Chin-jung. "Old folk have old folk's luck, don't say old folk are worthless; selling gourd ladles at the crossroads, the older they are, the more they're worth." Three doors down from us was Huang Jung-sheng, a merchant. When his mother was 91 he held a ceremony to celebrate her longevity, and invited everyone in Yangmei over 70. Couples with the husband and wife both still living even got a red envelope of money. My father is in the picture too. That day I took the 6-inch camera and tripod, but it wasn't tall enough so I had to raise up the camera and stand on a stool to see. Some Hakkas don't like celebrating their longevity, for fear of reminding the King of Heaven that he's missed them.
Pig-Raising. 1943. Wu Chin-miao. This is our neighbor on the Street, Wu Ah-tsan. He ran a canteen and also raised pigs. He suddenly got the urge to ask my brother to come and take a photo. In those days most families would raise several sows and one boar to offer at the Yimin festival. In the old days you had to raise them yourself, but now people buy them to offer. In fact, you can't bring yourself to eat them eat of a pig you raised yourself.
Tahua Street, Yangmei. 1943. Wu Chin-miao. This was a public fitness campaign in Yangmei under the Japanese. At six or seven every morning, everyone went out on the street to do exercises, and there were even competitions. The man in uniform on the right is the policeman who supervised and did the roll-call. The word for photo on the Chin-miao studio sign wasn't changed from Japanese to Chinese until 1951. The arcaded houses on Old Street were all replaced four years ago.
Yangmei Theater. 1945. Wu Chin-miao. Yangmei Theater was on Yangmei's main street. During the Japanification campaign, it played nothing but Japanese shows. After Retrocession it was refurbished. This was taken on 25 October 1945 at the big public ceremony to celebrate Taiwan's return to China. The speaker is the first acting mayor, Fanchiang Ping.
Yangmei Elementary School. 1945. Wu Chin-miao. This was taken on 17 November 1945, when the officers of the 1st Battali on of the 320th Regiment of the 107th Division of the 7th Army took charge of the heavy field artillery pieces of the Japanese army at Yangmei. It's taken on a glass plate. Without this photo, the others would be incomplete. But will there be any trouble about using this photo? If there's any problem, can it be sorted out?
Yangmei Middle School. 1953. Wu Chin-jung. When I went out that day I took two plates. They were 12-inch aerial photography film. On one I took the US military advisors' team with local people, and on the other I took them with their families. This isn't where the team were staying, it's what is now Yangmei Middle School, but this gate to the military camp is long gone. The shot is very natural, isn't it?
Wu brothers and family, c. 1944. I'm the only one in our family who's seen this picture. When mother was still alive she was always saying:"Chin-miao, develop it and lets have a look." But he was always busy and never developed it. It wasn't until this Chinese New Year that I made this 8-inch plate. I don't remember why it was taken, but I do remember it was taken with natural light from the skylight of the old studio, and with light reflected by a mirror. Chin-miao arranged the shot, and a friend released the shutter. On the left is my sister Min-chu, and the dog on the right was called Beauty.
