Shih Qiang was a very active photographer in Lukang and was the first Taiwanese to offer photographic services in the area. He learned portraiture from his uncle when he was young, and later became acquainted with Chen Huai-Cheng of the Qing-Chang family. In 1880, he encountered photography for the first time in Hong Kong, and came to believe that it could replace traditional portraiture paintings. In 1901, after learning photographic techniques, Shih set up the Erwo Photo Studio in the Wenkai Academy in the Wenwu Shrine. The garden was also used as a background for photographs.

The name “Erwo” means “second self.” It refers to the “self” seen through the lens, one that differs from the “self” that exists in reality. Many of the customers of the Photo Studio were Taichung gentries and literati. The Photo Studio left a deep impression among the local people. The Erwo Photo Studio stopped operations when Shih Qiang and his son passed away by 1944.

Rooted in his experience of painting portraits, Shih Qiang combined popular commercial photography with traditional portraiture, paying particular attention to the aesthetics of composition. During the Second World War, many people feared of being forgotten by their families after death, therefore they went to photography studios to take portraits; because of this, the Erwo Photo Studio was able to document images of many local residents.

The chief of the Wan Li Photojournalism Club in Kaohsiung was Shih Wan-Li, who was from northeastern China born in the first year of Emperor Xuantong. Shih founded the Wan Li News Agency in 1946.I In 1948, he came to Taiwan to exhibit news photography of China in an exposition and couldn’t go back home as China fell under the control of the Communist Party. In 1949, Shih Wan-Li settled down in Kaohsiung and started taking photos of the city. In 1950, Wan Li News Agency began to operate in Taiwan, whose address was on Wufu 4th Road. Devoting his entire lifetime to photojournalism, Shih Wan-Li’s Agency left more than half a million film negatives, many of them have not been developed.

Resource: Taiwan Press Photographer Association, Investigation of culture and Resources of Photography in Taiwan. Taipei, National Taiwan Museum, 2015.

Wu Shao-Tung’sancestral home was Shunde, Guangdong, and he grew up in Shanghai. Inspired by landscape photos published by newspapers or magazines and enlightened by Shanghai photographer Kang Tzu-Yin, Wu was determined to be a photographer. After graduating from the Shanghai Chinese Vocational School of Journalism, Wu began working as a photographic journalist for the newspaper Yishibao (The Social Welfare) in 1946, which marked the beginning of his career as a photographer. Later, Wu moved to Taiwan, and in 1956, and he started working as a photographer for the Central Pictures Corporation. In the same year, he and his fellow photographers presented their works in the Pearl Picking一Exhibition of Photography, which was his first exhibition in Taipei. In 1961, Wu Shao-Tung joined the Retired Servicemen Engineering Agency and founded the Department of Film for the Agency, in charge of the task of documentary photography. 

In 1990, Wu Shao-Tung retired from the Agency as the chief of the photography team, and he immediately devoted himself to nature photography and traveled across the five continents to take pictures of cranes, accomplishing the grand task of photographing 15 species of cranes all over the world. In 2000, Wu held his solo exhibition at the Natural History Museum in California. Wu Shao-Tung published photography albums: The World of Cranes (2002) and 17 Years of Photographing Cranes (2009).
 

Li Huo-Zengwas born in Kensei-ku, Taipei (around Today’s Tianshui Road). His father was a Chinese doctor who ran a Chinese pharmacy. The Li family owned quite a few properties. In 1937, Li inherited his family’s wealth when he was only 26 years old. Interested in foreign and fancy things, Li was one of the few people from the gentry class who possessed expensive Leica cameras during the Japanese colonial period, and he was nicknamed Leica Li. During the Pacific War, Li was twice selected into Taiwan’s Photography Almanac issued by the Government General. The First Photography Almanac was published in February 1944, including Li Huo-Zeng’s Farm Village Scene, and he was awarded the Badge of Selected Photographer. 

Having been immersed in the art of photographers from the Japanese colonial period, Li Huo-Zeng’s art after 1950 was in participatory documentary mode. Carefree and free-spirited, as Liwas devoted to photography, his lifetime hobby. Wine, coffee, music, cinema, as well as time spent with his wife and children, Li Hou-Zeng’s photographic works reflected his lifestyle and presented a realistic view of Taiwan.

Lee Shih-Chiao was born in 1908 in Xinzhuang, Taipei, and passed away in 1995. In 1924, Lee Shih-Chiao enrolled in the Taipei Normal School for Teachers and joined Kinichiro Ishikawa’s Taiwan Watercolor Painting Society. In 1929, Lee Shih-Chiao went to Japan to study sketches. In 1934, he founded the Taiyang Art Association with Chen Cheng-Po, Liao Chi-Chun, and Yang San-Lang, to promote Taiwanese art. From 1929 to around 1950, the themes of Lee Shih-Chiao’s works were mainly human figures and landscapes. The precision in sketching and his rational, composed compositions were seen in the realistic style of his early works. And since the 1950s, inspired by figures including Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, and Bernard Buffet, Lee Shih-Chiao simplified his forms and emphasized the contrast of brightness and darkness in his painting. In the later years of his life, Lee Shih-Chiao returned to the realistic style and in his variant forms, he explored the pureness of colors.

Lee Wang-Hsiu was originally a portrait painter. His the father of Li Cheng-Ji, a member of the Miaoli Photographer’s Association and the Hard-Neck Photography Group. Lee Wang-Hsiu went to northern Taiwan to study photography right after he finished elementary school. When he turned twenty, he returned to Maioli and founded Yu-Guan Photography Studio in Nanchuan. Over the past six decades, Yu-Guan Photography Studio has become embedded in the memories of many old people in Nanchuan. Lee often carried his camera on his shoulder and traveled around to take pictures, making fleeting moments of beauty immortal. Images that Lee left include the streetscapes of Nanchuan, such as the police station, a church, a suspension bridge, among other precious scenes captured during the Japanese colonial period. He also won many national awards from photography contests organized by the Japanese. 

In 1963, Miaoli was severely damaged by Typhoon Gloria, and downtown Nanchuan was badly flooded. As usual, Lee Wang-Hsiu rushed out of the door to take photos, when he realized how bad the situation was, he found his own studio was washed away by the torrents.

Resource: Chien Yung-Ping, Gazing the Time—Photography in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period, Taipei, Rive Gauche Publishing House, 2019
 

Lee Ti-Chin was born in Wanhua, Taipei, and graduated from Taipei Industrial Institute (now National Taipei University of Technology) in 1944. In 1946, Lee began working at Tatung Company, and founded the Tatung Photographic Club in 1960, embarking on his journey as an amateur photographer with a Ricohflex 6×6 camera. When the club was first founded, he invited Lee Tiao-Lun, Deng Nan-Guang, Yang Tian-Chi, and Chung Chin-Ching to be judges and advisors. Under their influences, Lee adopted the creative philosophy of natural realism, capturing diverse aspects of daily life and preserving rich image records of the Taiwanese society at the time. In the 1970s, Lee created many photographic works featuring children, where he constructed improvised and ingenious pictures by positioning the images of children and their surrounding landscapes amid arrangements in light and shadow.

Reference: Chang Chao-Tang. In Search of Photos Past, Taipei: Walkers Culture Enterprise, 2015.

Li Mei-Shu was born in 1902 and attended the Taiwan Governor General's National Language School. Greatly inspired by western painting, he aspired to study oil painting. In 1928, Li Mei-Shu went to Tokyo, in the next year, he passed the entrance examination of the Tokyo School of Fine Art (Today’s Tokyo University of the Arts) and began studying under the tutelage of Koutarou Hara, Okada Saburosuke, Kinichiro Ishikawa, and Kobayashi Mango, which strengthened his realist style in the later years.

In 1934, Li Mei-Shu co-founded the Taiyang Art Association with his fellow artists Chen Cheng-Po, Yen Shui-Long, Yang San-Lang, Liao Chi-Chun, Chen Ching-Fen, Lee Shi-Chiao, and Tetsuomi Tateishi. In 1935, his painting The Lady in Rest was given first place by the Taiwan Governor General’s Award in the 9th Taiwan Fine Art Exhibition. In 1939, Girl in The Red Dress was selected in the Third Japanese Ministry of Education‘s Art Exhibition (previously known as the Exhibition of Imperial Academy of Art). In 1940, Girl with Flowers was selected by the Japanese Ministry of Education‘s Art Exhibition (Exhibition for the anniversary of Japan’s state founding), Li Mei-Shu’s status as an outstanding Taiwanese artist of western art had been recognized.
In 1945, after the sovereignty turnover of Taiwan, Li Mei-Shu actively participated in the public affairs in Sanxia and was recommended to be in charge of the restoration of the Changfu Qingshui Zushi Temple in 1947. Li Mei-Shu’s large paintings, including Dusk and Field Trip, created in 1948, have been regarded as representative works. 

Li Mei-Shu devoted his lifetime to the restoration of the Changfu Temple, as well as the preservation of Taiwan folk art and craftsmanship. The restored Changfu Temple is deemed a classic work of modern Taiwanese religious architecture. 

Lee Tiao-Lun was born in a family of doctors in Shihlin, Taipei. His grandfather Lee Kun-Gang, father Lee Yu-Shu and uncle Lee Yu-Tsong were all practicing physicians. Lee Tiao-Lun’s father started taking pictures very early, which is evident in the abundance of photos from the 1910s he left behind. Influenced by his family, when Lee was sixteen years old, a student in the Taipei Second High School (Today’s Chenggong High School), his strong interest in photography drove him to craft a box camera from wooden panels, tapes, black cardboards, lead panels, frosted glass, and magnifying glasses. This self-made wooden box camera was Lee’s window to photography. In the 1970s, Lee was the master theorist and practitioner of photo-series combination, numerous photography lovers and amateur photographers were later mentored by him. 

Lee Tiao-Lun couldn’t care less about fame or wealth. After retiring from the Shihlin Farmers’ Association, he concentrated on the creation of photo-series combinations. Lee’s profound achievement in photo-series combinations filled the vacancy left by photographer Deng Nan-Guang’s sudden death by a heart attack in 1971. Besides Deng Nan-Guang, Chang Tsai and Lee Ming-Tiao, the eminent “Three Musketeers of Taiwanese Photography,” Lee Tiao-Lun was a lone wolf in Taiwan’s photography world.

Resource: Image Taiwan Database

Li Cheng-Ji was born in Nanzhuang, Miaoli. Most of his photographic works are about the people, scenery, and landscapes of his hometown. Li stated that one of his goals as a photographer is to record the things shifting into oblivion in a fast-changing world. Li’s family operated a photography studio, so he started helping the family business when he was a fifth-grader. He followed his father, Lee Wang-Hsiu, took pictures everywhere, and learned to develop photos. Young Li Cheng-Ji was especially intrigued by the tasks of coloring black-and-white photos. Li’s father passed on all the photographing skills to him when he was a senior high school student. 
After serving his military duty, Li Cheng-Ji had planned to learn to paint cinematic advertising boards in northern Taiwan, but was called back to his hometown by his father. He worked as a clerk in Nanzhuang Junior High School, and took care of the family business after his daytime job. Li was immersed in the world of photography, and after his father passed away, he retired from public employment and completely devoted himself to photography. In 1991, Li established the Hard-Neck Photographers Group with other photography lovers. Over the past decades, with the Hakka mentality of persistence and resolution, Li Cheng-Ji committed to black-and-white photography of folk culture and recording the world of fast changes.

Resource: Taiwan Cultural Memory Bank
 

Lee Ming-Tiao, born in Dashi, Taoyuan in 1922, is known as one of the “Three Musketeers of Photography” in Taiwan along with photographers Chang Tsai and Deng Nan-Guang. In his young adulthood, Lee worked as an apprentice at Dashi Photo Studio opened by his uncle Liao Liang-Fu, and afterward went to Taipei to work and board at Fuji Photo Studio, where he sharpened his techniques in retouching negatives. In 1940, Lee headed to Guangzhou, where he acquired Eastern and Western painting techniques at the Lingnan Academy of Fine Arts. During World War II, Lee assisted in drawing promotion materials for epidemic prevention at the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces’ health department. Returning to Taiwan after the war, Lee opened the Chungmei Photographic Supplies (later renamed Chungmei Photographic Equipment) in Taipei and immersed himself in creating images. He often took images of rural lives, agricultural activities, and women. Apart from documentary photography, he actively dedicated himself to learning western aesthetics of photography and capturing the images of Taiwan through his lens. In addition, Lee was committed to participating and promoting events and exhibitions of the photographic societies in Taiwan; he also founded the first post-war photography publication, Taiwan Camera Monthly.
 

Lin Cao was one of the first to run a portrait studio in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period. After he became acquainted with Ogi, the owner of the Morimoto Photo Studio, he learned how to take photographs, to develop film in a dark room, and to touch up photos. Eventually, he succeeded Ogi as the head of the Morimoto Photo Studio. The name of the photo studio was changed to the Lin Photo Studio in 1901. 

From 1905 onward, Lin Cao became the unofficial photographer of the Lin family in Taichung, taking photos of Lin Xian-Tang and others for almost forty years. In 1907, Lin built a new location for the Lin Photo Studio, becoming the most beautiful photo studio of its time. A lighting cover was set up to capture activities in natural lighting and double exposure services were offered for customers. As a result, the Lin Photo Studio had the most business out of any photo studio run by Taiwanese at the time, and was the photo studio that paid the highest tax rates.

Lin Shou-Yi came from a poor family. After graduating from a public school in 1929, he started working as an apprentice at the Hsu Qi-Yuan Photo Studio, which was run by his cousin. He learned how to take photographs, work with a charcoal pencil, powder colors, watercolors, and other techniques. In 1931, he traveled between Keelung and Hualien, taking photographs and portraits of local residents.

In 1934, Lin decided to travel to Tokyo to become a student at the Hi no Hatsu Portrait Limited Company in Ginza, Tokyo. He later realized that Taiwan still lagged far behind Japan when it came to photographic techniques. After studying various photographic techniques, he became among the few Taiwanese to work in a Japanese portrait company. In 1937, after returning to Taiwan, he set up the Lin Photo Studio in Taoyuan. Lin was skilled at taking portraits and excelled in lighting as well as hand-coloring technique.

The Jinmiao Photo Studio was located in Yangmei, Taoyuan, and obtained its license to operate in 1935. The two key members of the Jinmiao Photo Studio were the older brother, Wu Jin-Miao, who was responsible for photography and painting colors, and the younger brother, Wu Jin-Rong, who was responsible for darkroom work. The younger sister, Wu Min-Zhu, the father, Wu A-Chang, and the mother, Wu Zhong-Duan, would also help out with work in the portrait studio.

The Jinmiao Photo Studio was especially good at taking photos using props, stage sets, and lighting arrangements to allow different poses. The photo studio attracted many locals to take pictures on special occasions. Moreover, Wu often carries bulky camera and equipment for outdoor photography. The Jinmiao Photo Studio captured many photos of life in Taiwan in the end of the Meiji period, including the Kominka movement, farewell parties before military campaigns, group photos, wedding ceremonies, Hakka life, and so on. Wu took many significant photos that present the historical meanings and values of Yangmei and was hailed as the “father of photography in Yangmei.”

Shiy De-Jinn was born in 1923, in Sichuan, China. When he studied at the Chengdu College of Crafts and Arts, he was greatly inspired by artist Pang Xun-Qin, who had studied art in France. After learning about the art of Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and otherartists, Shiy began to try abstract painting. In 1943, he entered the National Chongqing College of Arts and was mentored by Lin Feng-Mian. He became even more eager in establishing a career in art. 

After the chaos of war, Shiy De-Jinn moved to Taiwan in 1948. He first taught in the Chiayi High School for four years, then resigned and moved to Taipei in order to concentrate on his art career. The fauvism in Shiy’s early works, strong colors and powerful strokes, were influenced by Lin Feng-Mian. From 1962 to 1966, Shiy was supported by the US Department of State to travel in America and Europe. He was influenced by modern art through these trips. 

After returning to Taiwan, Shiy De-Jinn’s art style integrated eastern and western painting, and he expressed personal characteristics in his works. Throughout his lifetime, Shiy contemplated the nature of modern Chinese painting. Even during his late years when he was bedbound due to illness, he never ceased thinking about how to broaden the perspective of Chinese ink painting.

Born in Dadaocheng in Taipei, Chang Tsai’s father died when he was nine. The same year, his elder brother set up the Xinguang Drama Research Institute, and Chang participated in many of its plays. In 1934, Chang embarked on his career as a photographer and traveled to Japan, enrolling at the Musashino College of Portraiture in Japan to study portraits, then later studied at the Oriental Photography College for half a year. 

After returning to Taiwan two years later, Chang set up the Yingxin Portrait Studio. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Chang and his family moved to Shanghai in 1941, documenting the rise and fall of Shanghai. After the war, Chang returned to Taiwan in 1946 to establish the Yingxin Photo Studio in Taiheicho (formerly Dadaocheng). In 1957, he provided photography developing services at the Daxin Photography Supply Store at Yanping North Road.

Chang Tsai’s photography is moderate, calm. As a stranger in Shanghai, he captured images of wartime Shanghai of the 1940s. After the Nationalist government relocated to Taiwan, he assisted with anthropological research conducted by National Taiwan University, taking photos of the lives of indigenous and their religious ceremonies. He also dedicated to document the temple festivals and different aspects of the Taiwanese Opera troupe. With his rustic but perceptive point of view, Chang Tsai interpreted relations of the society hidden in the period of time.
 

Chang A-Hsiang was born in Shanhu Vil, Toufen Township. He began studying sinology in an old-style private school in 1924 and developed his interest in Chinese poetry. In 1932, he studied portrait drawing and photography in Chang Ding-Shuang’s Sheng Miao-Hsuan Portrait Studio. In 1936, when Chang A-Hsiang was twenty years old, he set up the Mei-Yin Photography Studio in Toufen. In 1937, Mei-Yin Photography Studio was out of business due to the recession resulting from the devastating earthquake. 

In 1943, Chang A-Hsiang and his friend Lin Reng-Hu published their work Sakurai Gumi Building Materials Tenth Anniversary Wangxiang Mountain Photography. It was an unusual achievement for Taiwanese photographers. In 1947, after the outbreak of the 228 Incident, Chang A-Hsiang returned to Shanhu Vil in Toufen to establish Shanhu Photography Studio; the business continued until 2002, leaving its legacy of the past seven decades.

Resource: Chien Yung-Ping, Gazing the Time—Photography in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period, Taipei, Rive Gauche Publishing House, 2019
 

Chen Shih-An was born in Taichung City. At the age of 18, he often helped at a photographic studio belonging to his relatives. His job of developing negatives activated his exploration of photography. After finishing his education at the Taichung Normal School, Chen taught in elementary schools in Taichung City and Wufong for thirty-five years. Besides his teaching, photography was not only his hobby, but also his addiction. In order to have more time to take pictures, Chen passed up many opportunities for promotion. In 1959, Chen joined the Taichung City Photography Association and later took the positions as a board member, standing board member, and secretary general. He also taught photography at Tunghai University, Chung Hsing University, China Medical College, Providence University, and the Photography Program of the Taiwan Province Museum of Fine Art. Chen won many awards, including the bronze Medal of the annual photography contest organized by Fujifilm, Gold Medal of the Singapore and Southeast Asia Photography Contest, and awards from the 34th Taiwan Provincial Art Exhibition (1980).

Resource: Chou Wen, Focus on Taiwan－Idealism vs. Realism, p.132

Chen Chin was born in Niupu, Xiangshan, Hsinchu. After graduating from the Xiangshan Public School, Chen entered the most prestigious school for girls during the Japanese colonial period－The Third Taipei Girls Senior High School (Today’s Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School). In 1925, she was admitted to Tokyo Women’s Academy of Fine Arts, and majored in Japanese Painting in the normal education for future teachers. Chen was mentored by Japanese artists Yuki Somei and Endo Kyozo, both of whom had a profound influence on Chen’s art, including her landscapes, the patterns of clothes, and the decorations of furniture. 

In 1927, Chen Chin, together with Lin Yu-Shan and Kuo Hsueh-Hu, was selected into the Division of Toyo Art (Eastern Art) by the first Taiten (Taiwan Art Exhibition). Later, her artworks were selected by Taiten many times, and she was eventually nominated to be exempt from examinations. In 1934, her painting Ensemble was selected by the Teiten (the Japanese Imperial Art Exhibition); she was the first female Taiwanese artist to be exhibited in Teiten. In the same year, Chen started teaching in the Pingtung Girls Senior High School, and she was also the first female Taiwanese teacher in this school under Japanese colonial rule.

Chen Chin’s art style was delicate, tranquil and refreshing, and her coloring was graceful and brilliant. Female figures of different roles in their different stages of life were often the themes of her paintings, portraying their elegant manner and gentleness. Since she exhibited the Spring of Iris and Orchid in the 6th Taiten in 1932, Chen began to express her ideal images of Taiwanese women through her female figure paintings. She also elaborately portrayed the fashionable outfits at that time, and furniture and flowers that outlined the noble taste of her portraits were also depicted with skillful exquisiteness.
 

Tang Sz-Pan was born in Chongming, Jiangsu. He taught himself photography from 1937, but his interest was disrupted by the Sino-Japanese War. He began to take pictures again after he turned 30 years old, and with a rational attitude toward photography, Tang captured social events with the operations of the lens, shutter, and negatives. Tang eagerly promoted photography in Taiwan and co-founded the Photographic Society of Taipei in 1954 and served as the standing board member or the supervisor of the society. Tang also instructed the Photography Club of the National Taiwan University. In 1975, he co-founded the Photography World Magazine, and since 1986 he worked as the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine for nearly twenty years. Tang Sz-Pan’s works have been collected by Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Liu Haisu Art Museum in Shanghai, and the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.
 

Like many other Taiwanese photographers, in his early years, Huang Yu-Zhu learned to paint from a painter who used charcoal, and he learned photographic techniques from Huang Ding-Jin, who was an apprentice at Japanese portrait studios. Huang’s family later invested Huang Ding-Jin in opening Rih-Huo Photo Studio, Huang therefore begin his career as an apprentice. In order to improve himself, Huang Yu-Zhu traveled to Japan and enrolled in Oriental Photography College, graduating in 1941 as the student of the 20th term.

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, he returned to Taiwan and  took on work of photographer at the Nankei Portrait Studio opened by Chen Lian-Le in Nantou Japanese-owned Mary Portrait Studio, , and the Shiqiao Portrait Studio. In 1946, Huang set up the Guanghua Portrait Studio in his hometown Fengshan, which is still in operation today (2022). 

Photo studios in Japan Colonial period primarily took portraits and wedding photos. Before the development of color photographs, Huang Yu-Zhu specialized in hand-coloring  and touching up photographs because of his skill in painting.

Huang Bo-Ji was born in 1931, Donggang, Pingtung. Trained as a pediatrician, Huang Bo-Ji is a self-made photographer. In 1964, when Huang was 33 years old, he asked his friend to buy a Nikon single-lens camera from Japan for him, which activated his career as a photographer. After becoming a member of the Photographic Society of Taiwan, Huang was mentored by two pioneer documentary photographers, Deng Nan-Guang and Chang Shih-Hsien. During the “Days of the Photo Club” in the 1970s, Huang entered a variety of contests organized by photography salons and won many significant awards, driving him to further pursue photographic artistry. Huang’s works captured the time and memories of the everyday life and spaces in Taiwan, the authenticity and kind-heartedness of the people, as well as the heartwarming bonds between the people and the land. As the city landscapes rapidly changes, Huang Bo-Ji’s works remind us of the relationships among humanity, the land, and the environment.

Huang Chi-Ying was born in 1934 in Lugang, Changhua. At age 16, Huang enrolled in National Hsinchu Teachers College, where he studied under Lee Tze-Fan. Huang would later apply what he learned during this period to the compositions and grasp of color in his photographs. In 1953, Huang graduated from college and returned to Lugang to teach elementary school. To satisfy his interest in photography, Huang took photos of the students and studied darkroom techniques after school. In 1964, Fear of the Needle won first prize in Japan's Photo Art monthly competition, then later won again at the annual competition. In the 1970s, after joining the Folk Photo Group, Huang visited Taiwan's villages and townships to document ways of life that were slowly disappearing with the changing times.

Throughout his more than 60 years in the field, Huang's commitment to photography has never waned. He sees it as the language of the soul and has used his camera to present cherished moments that affected him emotionally as a photographer. Besides sparking inspiration and reflection, he hopes his photos would elicit feelings of joy.

Yang Bao-Cai was from Penghu; he went to Taipei by himself when he was only sixteen years old in order to study with Japanese photographers. In 1921, Yang founded Yang Bao Photography Studio in the first block of Nisshinchō (Today’s section two of Chongqing N. Rd. from Mingshen W. Rd. to Nanjing W. Rd.), Taipei. Yang Bao Photography Studio took many portraits of gentlemen and ladies in Dalongdong, which were greatly admired. From 1935 to 1938, Yang Bao-Cai, with his excellent photography skill, was persuaded to set up Matsui Photography Studio in Guangdong by his acquaintances in the Japanese army. The new studio did business with Japanese military men and took group photos of Taiwanese people living in Guangdong. In 1949, Yang Bao-Cai founded Wenming Photography Studio in Chaozhou, which is the oldest photography studio in the region, currently operating by his grandson Yang Chi-Hsin.


Resource: Chien Yung-Ping, Gazing the Time—Photography in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period, Taipei, Rive Gauche Publishing House, 2019

Deng Nan-Guang, whose original name was Deng Teng-Hui, was born in Beipu, Hsinchu. In the 1930s, Deng Nan-Guang studied at Hosei University in Japan and joined the students’ photography club. He was influenced by the aesthetics of the “Shinko Shashin” (New Photography) movement trending in the Japanese photography industry that emphasized street snapshots and qualities such as objectiveness and realism. In 1935, Deng returned to Taiwan, started the Nan-Guang Camera Shop, and continued to create photographic works. Through the realistic aesthetics of Shinko Shashin, he captured the living scenes in Taipei and the everyday life of his hometown folks, preserving images of Taiwan of that time with rich sentimentality. After World War II, Deng reopened the Nan-Guang Photography Supplies and actively participated in various photography events. In 1953, Deng participated in the re-establishment of the Photographic Society of China in Taiwan, and founded Liberty Photo Exhibition in 1954. In 1963, he established the Photographic Society of Taiwan and served as the chair for seven consecutive terms, having a profound influence on the development of photography in Taiwan. By continuously taking photographs of sceneries of Taiwan before and after the war, Deng Nan-Guang merged modern ideological trends with traditional documentary photography. His works involve political metaphors and his observation of society, providing an additional way to reflect on the photography in Taiwan.

Cheng Shang-Hsi was born in Keelung. He dropped out of high school because of an illness but stepped onto his path of photography with a low-priced “Pigeon” camera. At the age of 18, he joined the “Shinsuei Photography Exhibition” established by photographer Chang Tsai. Through the opportunity of participating in the group’s activities, he obtained the nourishment for his future works from Chang Tsai’s philosophy of rich humanistic care. During the 1950s and 1960s, Cheng was influenced by Western trends in photography. His continuous experiments and exploration of lights and shadows can be seen in many of his works in this period. In 1963, Cheng graduated from university and held his solo exhibition Fowl at Rose Marie Art Gallery, displaying works of birds captured by telephoto lens and greater aperture. His precision in capturing the animals’ characteristics attracted public attention.

The most acclaimed “documentary” characters in Cheng’s works stemmed from his work experiences at the Photography Unit of Government Information Office of the Executive Yuan, Comprehensive Monthly, and other publications, as well as his accumulation of experience in photographing his hometown Keelung and the mountain village Jiufen. Cheng Shang-His pursued “a natural deception of the people in the photographs; it should be as if the photographer is not present.”

Hsieh Jin-Chun graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography in 1939 and began to work for the illustration journal of Bunkakobo, primarily working in reportage photography. Hsieh Jin-Chun did not return to Taiwan until 1944, and in 1945, he took over the Watanabe Printing Factory that was left by the Japanese owner. With the printing business, Hsien Jin-Chun launched the Ming Sheng Newspaper, which issued every three days, and Hsieh Tseng-Teh, Hsieh Jin-Chun’s nephew, took the position as the publisher.

Resource: Chien Yung-Ping, Gazing the Time—Photography in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period, Taipei, Rive Gauche Publishing House, 2019

In 1922, Lou Fang-Mei from Guangdong established Chien-Jen Hsuan Portrait Studio on Taiheichō (near today’s Section 1 of Yenping N. Rd.). In the beginning, the studio simply took commissions from clients to draw charcoal portraits. The influence of photography led the Studio to hire Japanese photographer Taniguchi and started the business of photography. It also changed the name to Lou Fang-Mei Portrait and Photography Studio.

Lou Fang-Mei never practiced photography, but he sent his eldest of his four sons to study painting and photography. His second son went to Japan to study in the Oriental Photography School, and began to be in charge of the Studio after returning to Taiwan. In 1961, the studio started the business of hand-developing color photographs. It was the first photography studio in Taipei providing color photography, meanwhile, serving as the agent of Sakura color films. The business thus thrived.

Resource: Chien Yung-Ping, Gazing the Time—Photography in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period, Taipei, Rive Gauche Publishing House, 2019