Photographic artist Chi Kuo-chang discovered early his calling to observe the world through a camera’s viewfinder. He quit his studies at 19, and held his first personal exhibition at 20. After completing his military service, he saved enough money to study photography in France, and went from student to assistant lecturer in five years. He has collected countless awards over his career spanning more than twenty years, and his works are in the collections of major European art institutions. Like his teacher Lang Ching-shan, he has an award from UNESCO recognizing his contributions to art. Yet in Taiwan, it was a lonely, difficult journey to move from behind the viewfinder into the limelight of public attention as a “Contemporary Visual Artist”. Since 1997 there have been loud cries in Taiwan for a rediscovery of its roots, but the public continued to neglect its artistic culture. Chi Kuo-chang found himself in the desert beset by doubts about the future. Why create art? Who would appreciate it? And what will happen now that digital photography is spreading like wildfire?
    Chi Kuo-chang’s art follows two tracks. The first is the “Documentary and Culture” style with mass appeal, while the other track focuses on abstract imagery, seeking the essence of photography and challenging established frameworks. The documentary and culture style includes the “Wild Birds of Taiwan” collection in 1984 when he was twenty years old. This won gold medals in the colored photography category at international exhibitions in countries such as the USA, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Other documentary works include “Huang Hai-Tai, the Centenarian Showman,” and “Faces:Nepal” (1998). Noted works in the abstract track include the “Symbols of Colors” in 1994, “The Dying Flowers” which was selected for

Symbols of Colors #7   色彩符號#7, 1993	Symbols of Colors #1   色彩符號#1, 1993

Symbols of Colors #2   色彩符號#2, 1992	Symbols of Colors #8   色彩符號#8, 1993

showing at attend Les Rencontres Internationale de la Photographie d’Arles in 1997, and the soon to be premiered “Impression:Vitrine” series. Together the three abstract visual collections are referred to as the “Trilogy of Colors.”
    Be it documentary or abstract, Chi Kuo-chang’s career as an artist began in the “Pre-Digital Age” and is heir to the grand tradition of the visual arts. To him, a photographer is a painter like Van Gogh and Gauguin, the only difference being the use of the camera. Though the medium of expression may be different, the emphasis is still on the overall composition and the technical skills used to express the artist’s vision.
    

Symbols of Colors #59   色彩符號#59, 1999	Symbols of Colors #6   色彩符號#6, 1998

Symbols of Colors #22   色彩符號#22, 2003	Symbols of Colors #58   色彩符號#58, 2003

    As a member of the international community of photographers,...