Collaboratively penned by Kuo Li-Hsin, Chang Shih-Lun, Lee Wei-I, Liao Wei-Tang, Tomiyama Yukiko, Akira Higashikata, Chihiro Minato, Gu Zheng and Agnès, this issue brings us into the scenes of movements in Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and Japan. We trace the trails of protest photography and image politics through revisiting the rise of Taiwanese social movements in the 70s, its flourishing in the 80s… all the way to the Sunflower Movement in 2014. At the same time, we look at the development of social movements and protest photography in Hong Kong and Japan, investigating the development of protest photobooks with a focus on the Sanrizuka Conflict, which sparked off large scale protests in Japan in the 60s. Also, we explore the political revolt of image arts from the point of view of Dadaism photomontage. We invited three experienced photographers from the martial laws era —Song Lung-Chuan, Tsai Ming-De and Hsu Tsun-Hsu— to a discussion on their photographs as frontline photojournalists covering street movements. As for the SHOUT insert in this issue, photographer Lam Yik-Fei from Hong Kong presents youth and uncertainty with snapshots taken during the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan this past March.

In the Artist’s Showcase, Chang Chao-Tang introduces to us the life and works of the late photographer Yeh Ching Fang, allowing us a peek into his personal black box; Q features the well-known Japanese photobook designer Machiguchi Satoshi, photographer Seto Masato and the curator of Singapore International Photography Festival Gwen Lee, who shares with us the design, layout, creation and exhibition of photographs respectively. In the Taiwanese Photography History series, we investigate the naming allusions of early Taiwanese photo studios and the life of the first governer of Heng Chun, Prefect Zhou Youji, who already took selfies way back in 1870s; art critic Huang Han-Di also explores the beauty and elegance of women in 1920s -1960s through the images of Deng Nan-Guang.

We realized, at this point, that Once again the editorial desk has been again overloaded with a huge amount of reference materials. Night and day, we bury ourselves in the sea of images and documents, examining photographs of battles and the displays of passionate beliefs on the streets, which were drowned time and again by the tides of time and history. Such realization occasionally dampened our fighting spirit, which is –supposedly– strong and relentless.

In order to boost our spirit, we have made an exception in dedicating a song here: The Ill-fated Citizensfrom the album The Earth is My Mother (1985) by TC Yang, written by TC Yang and Cai Shirun. After three decades, this song is still relevant and suitable for all ages.

Cooking oil made from leftover food, rice wine made from toxic corn
Powdered milk made from animal feed,
which the KMT themselves all need to eat too
Beef jerky made from kangaroo meat, root beer with safrole
Co-ops with no credit, Ill-fated citizens

We should also sincerely thank them
For giving us nuclear power plants
For one day we won’t need to worry anymore
As we’ll all go to heaven together

 

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http://www.oitzarisme.ro/2014/01/13/50-magazines-to-buy-before-you-die/