UPCOMING

Founded by the writer Chen Ying-zhen, Ren Jian magazine published forty-seven 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 and opening a new chapter in reportage photography. 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 page layouts 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 forty-seven issues of the magazine and 5,497 images, the exhibition brings together the works of twelve 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 they conducted internal editorial processes, among others. 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, and reawaken it in 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.