Capture the accumulation of culture through ordinary lifestyles

Photography has accompanied me to observe and think about culture-related issues for more than 40 years. Beginning in Taiwan and studying in the United States, I then traveled to Eurasia , Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. No matter where in the world I go, my favorite thing is to observe the life of the common people. How the local people live their lives, strolling on the streets, pushing doors to enter different shops, mixing in the market, or coming to churches and temples, participating in temple ceremonies, and seeing different people, different beliefs, different diets and lifestyles. The daily life of everyone in the streets and alleys is actually the accumulation of culture, and the space and details of each street and alley are also the most concrete and practical presentation of local culture.

SIGMA 23mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary, SIGMA fp L, ISO 800, F1.4, 1/125s

This is especially true in the traditional market; everything from what you wear to what you eat can be bought there. It is basically the prototype of the department store. It not only has food, but also clothes, shoes, and socks,as well as a variety of daily necessities. Each stall has an owner with years of trading experience, creating their professionalism in each specific field. The food in the stalls is also unique. Each has its own way of display, and the interaction with customers also has its own words and body techniques. Many old markets are under a century-old building structure, representing the historical atmosphere of continuous trading with the passage of time. Many stall owners in Taiwan add hanging hooks, pink plastic shopping bags, wind and rain shelter, sunshade canvas, fans, lamps, etc. above the stalls. Practical accessories of various sizes are messy at first glance, but collaged into strange scenes that are rare in other parts of the world. In Taiwan, where supermarkets and convenience stores are everywhere, many people still choose to go to traditional markets to buy the food and daily necessities they need, because there are so many charming elements in the market. All the things needed for the lives of the common people can be seen in the market and presented in their own unique ways. So in the market we can see the culture behind the ingredients: the market inside and out, these seemingly unrelated but actually practical items collage a special scene, truly representing how Taiwan is a multicultural place.

Temple fairs are also my favorite photographic subjects.

There are many different ethnic groups in Taiwan, each with its own attitude towards life; and as the seasons that naturally repeat year after year, so follows the different religious ceremonies our different religious cultures hold over time.

People use rituals to affirm the meaning of life. Whether it is wedding and funeral celebrations, welcoming temple fairs and building ceremonies, the giant wheel of the times has been moving forward, although the gap between urban and rural areas has brought about changes in the appearance of life, we see the process of cultural inheritance in different ethnic groups and repeated rituals. There is not only the persistence of the same concept, but also the compromise of the changing era.

The SIGMA fp is also the lightest full-frame camera, and for a street photographer like me, it is a lightweight full-frame camera that combines convenience and excellent image quality, and is also very attractive. At the beginning, I used this camera to connect the old Leica lens I had on hand. Combined with the new body and the old lens, my new photographic moment has come, and this digital camera can also maintain the film-like image quality. I am very satisfied with the outcome. But the trouble of using it followed, the old lens is manual focusing, the aperture and shutter cannot be linked during exposure, and so on began to bother me. It seemed that I was wasting my use of an advanced camera, which made me reconsider  using these old camera lenses.

So I bought the SIGMA 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN | Contemporary, a relatively light lens designed especially for mirrorless cameras like SIGMA fp; in fact, the quality of this lens is quite good, but a problem arises for me with this combination. That is that the lens is relatively heavy in the entire proportion, and the body is too light, so there is a top-heavy feeling, and the lens is actually quite long, and the smaller bag can’t fit it, so looking back, didn’t I use this camera for the sake of lightness?

Then this time gave me the opportunity to use this new SIGMA 23mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary APS-C fixed focal length lens on a 61 megapixel SIGMA fp L camera which allows me to crop out some pixels, and the whole shooting feeling returned, and the weight of the entire camera plus lens felt in a balanced state. After conversion, it is equivalent to about 35 mm, which is also the viewing angle I am used to, so it feels very comfortable to use, and its autofocus is much faster than the previous generation, and even at a maximum aperture of F1.4, the focus is actually in very functional. This means you can shoot it at any time, which is very convenient, and it can be operated flexibly– even with one hand. And if you adjust the aperture to F5.6, you basically don’t have to worry about focusing when shooting. So, for me, it returned to the original function it should have, which is an easy-to-use high-quality portable camera.

Especially when I like to take photos in dim light situations such as in the market or in the laneway at night, a F1.4 aperture lens is really handy for me. Many subtle details in the dark parts of the scene where there is almost no direct light source can be revealed after adjustment.

When I take pictures, I like to set the ISO to automatic, and then let the camera do its work. I just need to concentrate on observation, carefully feel the atmosphere on the street, interact with the subject, and then think about the resulting images. The culture and inner texture behind it, photography should be such a relaxed, pleasant and satisfying thing.