1.
All the photographs of the world made up a labyrinth
Toutes les photographies du monde formaient un labyrinthe
Roland Barthes
"La Chambre Claire"
What are old photos?
One day when I went to Hsi-sung's house to take his picture, he pointed to a pair of charcoal drawings on the wall that his father had done of his grandfather and grandmother and proudly asked me what I thought of them. "He draws better than you do!" I blurted out unhesitatingly, but actually this was not completely true. What I really saw was the respect, sincerity, and concentration his father had put into the pictures. And it's just this "dignity" existing between the portrayer and the portrayed that is the essence of old photographs. That's why we hang them on the wall, from generation to generation.
Every time I set up my 4"×5" camera and face the subject, I feel as terrified as if I'd been plunged into water. The suddenness of the attack spurs me toward the shore. Swim! Swim! Swim! is all I can think about. At that moment, any signal the subject makes is like a piece of wood floating in the water, giving me something to grab on to.
After photographing 50 people (both friends and strangers), I hung up their pictures on the wall and looked at them day and night. After a while I found they had all become a single person.
[Picture Caption]
Lang Ching-shan, 1985.
Li Yu-ko, 1986.
Lin Hung-yun, Yen Cho-yun, Yen T'ing-yun, 1984.
Ch'i Teng-sheng, 1986.
Ch'i Teng-sheng, 1986.
Juan I-chung, Juan Hsi, 1986.
Chen Chu-hui, Hu I-yu, Hu Te-fu, 1986.
Lu Fang-chih, 1986.
Lin Hung-yun, Yen Cho-yun, Yen T'ing-yun, 1984.
Juan I-chung, Juan Hsi, 1986.
Chen Chu-hui, Hu I-yu, Hu Te-fu, 1986.
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