ABOUT
Born in 1964, Yang Shun-Fa was raised in a farming family in Tainan. He knew of the harsh conditions of the land and what it takes to strive in such environment. After military service, he entered China Steel Corporation and worked there ever since. CSC’s photo club was where he learned photography and where he delved into the world of image making. For over 30 years, he has produced dozens of projects, many of which have been exhibited at major institutions and festivals worldwide, including Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Grand Palais, Paris, Kosovo Biennale, and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Lishui Photography Festival, CO4 Taiwan Avant-Garde Documenta.
Yang’s artistic approach evolved from the early pictorial style, to a more subjective expression, then to staged photography and digital image manipulations. His experimentations carried throughout the 1990s and 2000s. His reflection on the social atmosphere of Taiwan’s post-martial law era were incorporated in projects of social documentary, artistic interventions, performance art, and photo-installations. Notable works include Reconstructed Kingdom (1993-1997), Rampant Beasts (1998-2002), the community intervention project Embellishing Hongmaogang (2007), Home and Rootless (2004-2008), and “The Island Project” (2014-ongoing).
Recent years he has committed to documenting and representing his beloved island of Taiwan. “The Island Project” was conceived under this goal in 2014 and has been Yang Shun-Fa’s ongoing endeavor to this day. “The Island Project” includes four parts: Homage to Chen Ting-Shih (Part I), The Submerged Beauty of Formosa (Part II), The Submerged Beauty of Formosa—Defending the Nation, the Land (Part III), Taiwan To-Go (Part IV).
楊順發 1964年生於台南善化，現居高雄，是中鋼公司的藍領工人，從事攝影創作逾三十年。代表作品有《再造王國》(1997)、《野獸橫行》(1999)、《家園游移狀態》(2006)、《彩庄紅毛港》(2007)等。他在創作早期常用編導攝影的方式，創造各種現實又虛幻的情景，藉此揭示、嘲諷虛矯表象下的真實社會面貌，表達他所觀察體驗到的「台灣現世相」。近年來他投入對台灣海岸線的田野踏察，發展出「海島計畫」，其中2018年高雄獎的《台灣水沒》系列的海岸線影像，結合了「水墨畫」的形式，以輕柔的手法表現地層下陷所造成的災難式場景；近期的《台灣土狗—Taiwan To Go》系列則表現人與海洋的關係，凸顯出台灣人的生命力和不懼未知的冒險性格。他歷年來的作品曾受邀至法國、香港、科索沃、北愛爾蘭等國展出，並獲國內外美術館收藏。