Curators |Su Ying-lung, Michel Frizot
Exhibition Contributors|Chen Chia-chi, Lee Hsu-pin
 
Photographers |
Juan I-jong
Lin Bo-liang
Lin Yi-hsiang
Hou Tsung-hui
Liang Kuo-lung
Chang Yung-chieh
Liao Chia-chan
Tsai Ming-te
Tsai Yea-chin
Yen Shing-chu
Chung Chun-sheng

 


Founded by the writer Chen Ying-zhen, Ren Jian magazine published 47 issues between its inaugural publication in November 1985 and September 1989. During Taiwan’s gradual democratization, it generated social attention and influence through visual expression, becoming recognized for raising awareness of social, political, and ethnic issues. Yet compared to the many studies on its written reportage, the photography, which defined the magazine’s visual character, has long been overlooked. In fact, the text and images in Ren Jian complemented one another: the writing articulated the depth within the photographs, and the images strengthened the force of the text. With each page layout that nearly always included at least one photograph, the magazine inaugurated a new era for reportage photography in Taiwan.
 
Curated by Su Ying-lung and French photographic historian Michel Frizot, this exhibition centers on the photographic images of Ren Jian. Through organizing and distilling 5,497 images from 47 issues of the magazine, the exhibition brings together the works of 11  photographers selected from the 196 contributors. Presented alongside interview videos, it offers insight into how they first came into contact with photography, how they became photojournalists, how they discovered and developed their topics, how they realized a reportage project, and how images and text interacted within Ren Jian’s editorial structure. Through these individual images selected from the reports, visitors may grasp both the compassion embedded within the photographs and the originality and diversity of their stylistic approaches. At the same time, the presentation of digitally reproduced magazine articles restores the exhibited images to their original context within Ren Jian while also compensating, to some extent, for the loss of many original film negatives.


Unseen Lives: Reportage Photography from Ren Jian Magazine, 1985–1989 bears witness to the photographers’ professionalism and dedication. It brings back into visibility the paths they once traversed (often into danger) in order to document reality, suffering, or hope. We envision that this exhibition will bring to light a chapter of life lived by the pioneers of reportage photography, which was once unrecognized and perhaps even forgotten, and reawakened at this moment in time. Even if the darkness encountered along the way has never fully vanished, the small lights of the human world have continued to glow, quietly and enduring.


   
Juan I-jong, 1988, Issue 34, pp.89  │  Lin Bo-liang, 1987, Unpublished in the magazine

         
Lin Yi-hsiang, 1986, Issue 11, pp. 60-61  │  Chang Yung-chieh, 1989, Issue 43, cover │  Tsai Ming-te, 1988, Issue 27, pp. 12  │ Chung Chun-sheng, 1986, Issue 11, pp. 22

   
Hou Tsung-hui, 1985, Unpublished in the magazine  │  Liao Chia-chan, 1986, Issue 11, pp. 42

   
Tsai Yea-chin, 1988, Issue 32, pp. 41  │  Yen Shing-chu, 1987, Issue 24, pp. 21


Liang Kuo-lung, 1988, Issue 29, pp.130


Organizers｜Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts,  Museum of National Taipei University of Education （MoNTUE）
Sponsors｜National Culture and Arts Foundation,  Reliable Source Industrial Co., Lion Pencil CO., Museum Friends Association, NSFG Foundation, Chien Wei-ju