City Yeasts Movements Broadcast Overseas School Yeasts US Project

Richard Wang - Spiritual Photographer

(photo taken on 2013/11/07)

Time:2013/11/7 19:30~21:30
Venue: McDonald’s near MRT Yongan Station
Experience:

Lecturer at the Department of Tourism, Chinese Culture University, advising teacher of Shih Chien University Photography Club, photographer at Xue Xue Institute (reference: City Yeast website)

  1. What makes you want to be a photographer?

    2. In my early days, I found myself rather sensitive with images and I liked reading stuff related to design and arts. When I am exposed to photography, I found out that it could capture beautiful things.

  2. In which way do you think your background influences or inspires the work you are doing?

    3. Actually it is not my background. Several decades ago, we could only find about a dozen of photography-related books in a bookstore, now we can find hundreds of them . As time goes by, the quantity and scale of books have fundamentally changed. As for my work, it was one lesson I took from Mr. Min-ming Chen when I was in college that influenced me the most. My first contact with so-called aero photography influenced me deeply. I have always been shooting pictures casually, but after I met my teacher I realized there is much to talk about in a single picture.

  3. Among so many photos, which one or which moment in the picture touches you the most?

    4. There are many things that impress me; the important thing is the experience, not the results.

  4. Which photo impresses you the most?

    5. When I am shooting a picture, I think about it from some perspectives. Like the state of the person being shot or his state reflected in the picture. Things in a picture stops, and the important thing is that I figure out the status and significance of the person in the picture and the perspective from which we shoot the picture.

  5. How do you think about Balcony Project?

    6. If we look at it in detail, we’d ask why are the balconies of Taiwan so messy? Balconies abroad are not so much about functional consideration, but those in Taiwan are treated as space for exclusive and miscellaneous articles.

  6. At which point will you push the shutter during shooting?

    7. I will shoot things meaningful to me. I have seen too many things, whether through reading or shooting, and I will not shoot things I am not interested in.

  7. What do you think about a deep Taiwan?

    8. We should think about it, take actions around and then think about what else we can do.

  8. As a photographer, do you have any commitments to the place you grow up in?

    9. As a photographer, I will observe things in my life and systematically organize and promote stuff which people ignore.

  9. When you are shooting pictures, do you delete most of them to pick out the best one or just capture what you really like?

    10. It depends on the theme. Photography is complex and complicated work, we all take a look at the things we are about to shoot before shooting. We walk down the road, and when we are not in a good state, we take a lot of pictures so we can pick out better ones afterwards; and if we are in a good state, we capture them directly. Mostly, we don’t take pictures of things happening on the streets, which never seem to end. How should we use this? When you are by yourself, City Yeast can get everybody to work together and make the best of everybody’s advantages. In that way they can do many professional things, the efforts spent will not be in vain, and the results will also be more complete.

  10. How do you know City Yeast in the first place?

    11. At Xue Xue Institute, when I was taking a design class of City Yeast.

  11. Has City Yeast influenced you in any way after you know about it?

    12. The biggest significance is that I get to know that people are starting to change the city. This organization gave me some emotions because such things should be the government's job, yet the civilians have done a much better job.

  12. How do you think of the viscous city and non-globalization proposed by City Yeast?

    13. These are very good direction of thinking. City Yeast has since its foundation been leading the way with such unique concept and ideas. We must look back and see how did many things happened and what are the features of Taiwan?

  13. What do you like the most about your job?

    14. It is the coordination with people of different industries that I like the most.

  14. Where is the best place you’ve ever seen, and what can Taipei learn from it?

    15. I cannot really answer that question, because I have not seen all the cities. The most precious asset of Taipei is people, Taipei is probably the place where ideas can be realized the most commonly throughout Taiwan.

  15. When do you think Taipei is the most beautiful?

    16. Whenever it's not crowded. Taipei is beautiful when there are no cars on the road. When it is too crowded, it doesn’t feel the same.

  16. Has there been any scene that is so beautiful that you can hardly hold the camera?

    17. Actually, it is the opposite. I rarely carry a camera to a new place because without a camera I can experience more through my heart. Carrying a camera with you will kind of limit yourself, and it also become some kind of habit.

  17. Where and how long have you been teaching students?

    18. Chinese Culture University: 6-7 years

    Shih Chien University: advising teacher of the Photography Club

    Xue Xue Institute: photography course

  18. Any suggestions to our club?

    19. City Yeast did not achieve that much until you guys decided to do it. Before you find out this you will not even organize such a club. You're great that you actually took action. Ideas without execution are void. You probably have known that recent news are filled with fine words, but there are people having done a lot but didn't make a sound.

 

　　　　

(photos taken on 2013/11/07)


Feedback

On a dark night, we conducted the third interview at McDonald’s in Yongan Market. After several interviews we are no longer nervous about interviewing strangers. This time we are to interview a photographer, Mr. Wang. After reading through his information on the City Yeast website, we found out that he had participated in a lot of activities of City Yeast, so we decided to interview him. Mr. Wang is a photographer engaging in capturing memories. Of course, he has many great thoughts about life aesthetics. In our interview, we asked him what he liked about Taipei. His answer is“people”. His answer inspired me. Many people come to Taipei to look for jobs. Hard work day after day has kept people distant from each other. We lost the leisure that we once owned. Actually, life is not just about money and fame, and life without fun cannot be called so. As to the Balcony Project, he told us all he saw on the street using his camera is iron rods on balconies. He thought balconies shouldn’t be a place for storing miscellaneous stuff and hanging clothes. Mr. Wang and City Yeast believe the ideal use of balcony should be a space for flowers and desks where people can chat in. He mentioned a lot of new ideas about photography, like going out to the streets without a camera or cellphone in hand, and looking at the world through the eyes instead of the limited view in a box. He also shared his experience of a beautiful place: at that moment, he didn’t want to take out his camera; instead, he decided to keep it in his memory using his heart. Most of the time, it would be more fun to live a life different with regular lifestyle, for example, taking different routes to school, tasting dishes of different restaurants, or using stationeries of different brands; all of these can help us find the beauty in life, and happiness comes out of that in a natural manner.

(written by Hsi Chen)