<p>Chien-Chi Chang of Taiwan, an award-winning photographer with Magnum Photos, is dedicated to investigating the ties that bind people to each other, and drawing inspiration from his own deeply-divided immigrant experience. The renowned photographer was at the Alliance Française de Bangalore recently, where he presented some of his major works in photo-essay and multimedia formats. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Chien-Chi Chang’s best known work is The Chain, a collection of portraits that were taken in a mental asylum in Taiwan, which caused a sensation when it was shown at La Biennale di Venezia and the Bienal de Sao Paulo. <br /><br />He has treated marital ties in two books — I do I do I do, a collection of images depicting alienated grooms and brides in Taiwan, and Double Happiness, a brutal depiction of the business of selling brides in Vietnam. <br /><br />For 20 years, Chang has photographed the bifurcated lives of Chinese immigrants in New York’s Chinatown, along with those of their wives and families back home in Fujian.<br />Here is an exclusive interview with the photographer:<br /><br />Can you tell us about yourself and your childhood?<br /><br />I grew up in a remote rural village in central Taiwan. I didn’t start photography until I went to the United States for graduate studies in 1988. After 22 years in America, I moved to Graz, Austria.<br /><br />When did you get interested in photography?<br /><br />I don’t think there was a defining moment when I made a decision, but it was with gradual accumulation of continuous practices day in and day out that I finally realised photography was my life’s calling.<br /><br />How has technology changed the quality of your photographs?<br /><br />I love shooting films, but I also enjoy working with new technology. In the end, it’s a tool to create photographs.<br /><br />What was your life like in your initial years as a photographer?<br /><br />Just like most photographers, in the beginning, it was a struggle. Well, I am still struggling, except that it is a different kind of struggle now, and the most difficult thing I have to face today is how to go deeper into my story.<br /><br />What are the photographs that you remember?<br /><br />I am only fond of the photographs that have stayed with me for the past 27-plus years. Yes, I have won some awards and have published four books, but the “struggle” continues.<br /><br />Do you think a photograph is worth a 1,000 words? Why?<br /><br />A photograph can be worth more than a 1,000 words, or less. A still photograph could have the moving power to crystallise the essence of life in a split second.<br /><br />What were some of the messages you tried to convey through your photographs? How do you handle difficult subjects?<br /><br />Most of my projects are based on my own experience as a migrant and an immigrant. I have photographed difficult subjects who are sometimes very open to being photographed, but the process can also be very dangerous.<br /><br />How was the experience of shooting some of your important works like The Selling of Brides in Vietnam, Chinese immigrants in Chinatown and Portraits of a Mental Asylum <br />in Taiwan?<br /><br />It was difficult because I can relate to the people I photograph, and because most of what I photograph is based on my own experience.<br /><br />Have mobile cameras and the ‘selfie culture’ destroyed the appreciation of the beauty of the photographs taken by a high-end camera?<br /><br />The ‘selfie culture’ doesn’t destroy the appreciation of the beauty of photos taken by a high-end camera. A camera is a camera, and it is just a tool. The more people take photographs, the better it is. Because it finally becomes a democratic way of seeing, sharing and communicating your ideas.<br /><br />How do you balance how a photographer perceives a subject and how the subject wishes to be perceived in front of a camera?<br /><br />It all comes down to the photographer’s ability of using camera as a tool and photography as a language to express his or her unique way of seeing the world.<br /><br />What is the response you have received from people to your photographs?<br /><br />People respond to photographs differently, and a lot of the response depends on their upbringing, culture and customs. I am fine with all kinds of comments or no comments.<br /><br />What do you like to do when you are not working?<br /><br />I try to spend as much time with my kids and my family when I am free.<br /><br />What is your advice to aspiring photographers?<br /><br />Don’t be afraid to fail. Try and try and try again. Be persistent.<br /><br />What are your plans for the future?<br /><br />I want to complete four films and bring out three books in the next five years.</p>
<p>Chien-Chi Chang of Taiwan, an award-winning photographer with Magnum Photos, is dedicated to investigating the ties that bind people to each other, and drawing inspiration from his own deeply-divided immigrant experience. The renowned photographer was at the Alliance Française de Bangalore recently, where he presented some of his major works in photo-essay and multimedia formats. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Chien-Chi Chang’s best known work is The Chain, a collection of portraits that were taken in a mental asylum in Taiwan, which caused a sensation when it was shown at La Biennale di Venezia and the Bienal de Sao Paulo. <br /><br />He has treated marital ties in two books — I do I do I do, a collection of images depicting alienated grooms and brides in Taiwan, and Double Happiness, a brutal depiction of the business of selling brides in Vietnam. <br /><br />For 20 years, Chang has photographed the bifurcated lives of Chinese immigrants in New York’s Chinatown, along with those of their wives and families back home in Fujian.<br />Here is an exclusive interview with the photographer:<br /><br />Can you tell us about yourself and your childhood?<br /><br />I grew up in a remote rural village in central Taiwan. I didn’t start photography until I went to the United States for graduate studies in 1988. After 22 years in America, I moved to Graz, Austria.<br /><br />When did you get interested in photography?<br /><br />I don’t think there was a defining moment when I made a decision, but it was with gradual accumulation of continuous practices day in and day out that I finally realised photography was my life’s calling.<br /><br />How has technology changed the quality of your photographs?<br /><br />I love shooting films, but I also enjoy working with new technology. In the end, it’s a tool to create photographs.<br /><br />What was your life like in your initial years as a photographer?<br /><br />Just like most photographers, in the beginning, it was a struggle. Well, I am still struggling, except that it is a different kind of struggle now, and the most difficult thing I have to face today is how to go deeper into my story.<br /><br />What are the photographs that you remember?<br /><br />I am only fond of the photographs that have stayed with me for the past 27-plus years. Yes, I have won some awards and have published four books, but the “struggle” continues.<br /><br />Do you think a photograph is worth a 1,000 words? Why?<br /><br />A photograph can be worth more than a 1,000 words, or less. A still photograph could have the moving power to crystallise the essence of life in a split second.<br /><br />What were some of the messages you tried to convey through your photographs? How do you handle difficult subjects?<br /><br />Most of my projects are based on my own experience as a migrant and an immigrant. I have photographed difficult subjects who are sometimes very open to being photographed, but the process can also be very dangerous.<br /><br />How was the experience of shooting some of your important works like The Selling of Brides in Vietnam, Chinese immigrants in Chinatown and Portraits of a Mental Asylum <br />in Taiwan?<br /><br />It was difficult because I can relate to the people I photograph, and because most of what I photograph is based on my own experience.<br /><br />Have mobile cameras and the ‘selfie culture’ destroyed the appreciation of the beauty of the photographs taken by a high-end camera?<br /><br />The ‘selfie culture’ doesn’t destroy the appreciation of the beauty of photos taken by a high-end camera. A camera is a camera, and it is just a tool. The more people take photographs, the better it is. Because it finally becomes a democratic way of seeing, sharing and communicating your ideas.<br /><br />How do you balance how a photographer perceives a subject and how the subject wishes to be perceived in front of a camera?<br /><br />It all comes down to the photographer’s ability of using camera as a tool and photography as a language to express his or her unique way of seeing the world.<br /><br />What is the response you have received from people to your photographs?<br /><br />People respond to photographs differently, and a lot of the response depends on their upbringing, culture and customs. I am fine with all kinds of comments or no comments.<br /><br />What do you like to do when you are not working?<br /><br />I try to spend as much time with my kids and my family when I am free.<br /><br />What is your advice to aspiring photographers?<br /><br />Don’t be afraid to fail. Try and try and try again. Be persistent.<br /><br />What are your plans for the future?<br /><br />I want to complete four films and bring out three books in the next five years.</p>
