Before studying Chang’s photographs, I tend to find out how come the photographer can present his own viewpoints in a photobook from two aspects: one is the historical background of contemporary documentary photography; the other is the agency of Magnum Photos, in which Chang is
the first Taiwanese full member.5 These two aspects also help to figure out
5 Before becoming a full member in Magnum Photos, one needs to become a nominee member first. One can apply by submitting a portfolio and half of the members must agree by vote to nominate him/her. As for the nominee member, there is no binding commitment but the photographers have a chance to know one another and the new members can get an opportunity to join in Magnum. In the next two to four years, some
Chang’s position.
Since the blossoming development of mass media in the 1950s, television replaces the position of photography to inform and record, and the use of images in newspaper and magazines are mainly controlled by the editors or decided by the stance of the publishers. The photographers, who take pictures, cannot decide how the photographs are edited or published. Thus, some photographers, such as Mary Ellen Mark and Eugene Richards, exhibit their works in museum and gallery or publish their books as the ways to present their own opinions in their photographic works (Marien 400-5). In the mid-1970s in California, Martha Rosler, Allan Sekula and Fred Lonidier, as the politically active intellectuals, even begin to use photography as the means to do social critiques (Marien 416-21). The meaning and position of documentary photographs vary.6 Therefore, the meaning of the images is not only tangled with historical and practical discourse but also related to the
new portfolios need to be reviewed and two-third of the members must vote to agree this person as an associate member. The associate member does not have the rights to vote but still enjoys the facilities and is bound by the rules in Magnum Photos. Another two years later, the associate member needs to submit some new portfolios and two-third of the members must vote him/her to be a full member (or vote him/her out). The full membership in Magnum Photos is for life or as long as the photographer chooses. All of the full members have the rights to decide the matters and issues of Magnum. It is not owned by one person only. See the details in the official website of Magnum.
“Magnum Membership.” Magnum Photos. < http://www.magnumphotos.com
/c/htm>. Path: About Magnum; General Information; Magnum Membership.
6 Chi-Ming Lin responds to this complicated question and relates the issue to the context of the documentary photography in Taiwan. Lin, “Report” 4-19.
social-political aims of the images.7 It is under such circumstances that we see Chang’s photographs in his photobooks as the way to present his own viewpoints.
Then, to be more specifically, Chang learns photography in America and he is indeed influenced by the trend of the photographers in the postwar period. The representatives, such as Robert Frank (who is deeply influenced by Walker Evans), Lee Friedlander, Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus, do not seek to report social events or call for social reform with their photographic images, but work “in extensive series based on life experiences”
(Marien 355) as a way for personal reflection or expression. They spend much time observing the subjects and take some series of photographs rather than just a few photographic images. “The scope of these series, dramatized by the photographer’s unique perspective on how to order the images, propelled the photographic book into prominence” (Marien 355). This trend has a lasting impact on the photographers such as Mary Ellen Mark and
7 Abigail Solomon-Godeau clearly points out that documentary photographs, as
“historical construction” (170), is necessarily examined from its discourses, practices and uses; that is to say, what are important to note is not only the context in which the subjects matter in reality situate historically, but also the mechanism which the images are produced and presented (or published). Such are also Buchloh’s points of referential meaning and contextual meaning of photographic images. Richard Bolton remarks that the photographic meaning is affected by “the exercise of power” (xii) and the understanding of documentary photography depends on how “it social and political aims” (xvi) are understood.
Eugene Richards, who show the plight of unfortunate people but seldom present sentimental images. Further, they tend to rely on text, which is an integral part of the work, to contextualize the photographs. Chang, who proceeds with a long-term working process and produces some series of photographs, appears to inherit or be influenced by such a trend. His photographs are not taken for social change but for denoting his personal concerns.
Secondly, it is irresistible to notice the mechanism and atmosphere in Magnum Photos agency. Magnum Photos is founded in 19478 and aims at the idea of free the photographers “from bonds of loyalty to any particular journal and its brand of propaganda” (Boot 5). Photographers in Mangum Photos own, control and market the copyright of their images; every member in this agency has his own projects.9 Different from other photojournalists, the members in Magnum Photos try to have their individual viewpoints present rather than tell the stories according to the direction and stances of the editors, the publishers or the founders. The staffs find out markets for the
8 It is founded by Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and David
“Chim” Seymour. For the detailed history of Magnum, please check the official website of Magnum Photos. “History of Magnum.” Magnum Photos. <http://www.
magnumphotos.com/c/htm>. Path: About Magnum; History of Magnum.
9 Alex Majoli, who joined Mangum in 1996, says, “When I came into Magnum, I saw that everyone was doing their own big projects, so I wondered about doing the same” (Majoli 291).
pictures taken by the members, instead of interfering in their projects or telling them how they should photograph. The agency is a window for the photographers to connect with the market, such as museums, galleries, magazines, publishers and the readers. On the official website of Magnum, there is a category of “photographers,” in which the names of the photographers in Magnum are listed. When we get from the list into one photographer’s page, we will read the simple introduction of his/her life, working experiences and the photographic monographs. We can read the photographs in the books online and we can purchase the books through Magnum. By promoting the photographic monographs to show the uniqueness of each member, the mechanism of the organization provides a mediate platform for the interaction between the photographers and the market, and helps the photographers to keep their own ideas and present them in their photographic works.
In the organization itself, Chang appear to be in the core group, in which the individual voices of the photographers seem to be stronger than those of
the other members. As Chris Boot10 introduces in the book Magnum Stories,
10 Chris Boot is an independent writer, curator and editor on subjects relating the photography. He joined Magnum Photos in 1990 and then worked for eight years, becoming Director of Magnum London in 1993 and Director of Magnum New York in 1996. During this time, he gained a comprehensive and intimate knowledge and understanding of Magnum’s photographers. Boot, Magnum Stories the jacket.
[A] Core of group within Magnum retains a recognizable relationship to the idea of the photo story, producing long-term essays on issue-based themes […]. Their approach is usually characterized by personal interests and their relationship to particular themes and subject matter […]. For the majority, the book has become a far more important print vehicle for their photography than the magazine, and while editorial assignments may contribute to their work on a given subject, they are more likely to be financing it through grants, print sales, ‘stock’ sales from their photographs in the Magnum library and other ancillary sources. (9) For these photographers, the process of working lasts long and the photographs produced are numerous. To publish in the form of book is the best way to put so many photographs together. Among them, Chang also does the projects of his own. The photographic voice in Chang’s books comes from his concerns of the society and the characteristics of his photographic images. Whether he tries to observe the situation of others or to express his own viewpoints, he sees the issues he is interested in his own position so that he can touch the singularity in different issues. Thus, if we want to know about Chien-Chi Chang, it is necessary for us to study the
photographs in his photobooks, which is the access to his individual stance and concerns.