Unseen Lives: Reportage Photography from Ren Jian Magazine, 1985–1989. Taiwan
I worked as a photojournalist at the prestigious Ren Jian (人間, People) Magazine in Taiwan in my late twenties. To stay true to the subjects I reported on, I traveled to many remote areas, cities, and towns across Taiwan, staying for extended periods to build genuine relationships with the people I was focusing on. The magazine is remembered for its powerful social documentary photography and in-depth investigative journalism. During those formative years, the minority communities with fragile voices whom I encountered—and the places I visited—left a profound and lasting impact on me as a fellow human being.
Recently, I have been deeply honored to be invited to participate in this meaningful photography exhibition alongside all those renowned photographers: Unseen Lives: Reportage Photography from Ren Jian Magazine, 1985–1989
Below is an introduction of the show from the exhibit venue MoNTUE, Museum of National Taipei University of Education:
“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 Jiancomplemented 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.”
Some more of Yeachin’s photographic work can be viewed here:
2025.12.20-2026.03.01 浮生——《人間》中的報導攝影，1985-1989
由作家陳映真創辦的《人間》雜誌，自 1985 年 11 月創刊至 1989 年 9 月，共出版四十七期。它在台灣逐步民主化的過程中，透過視覺表現產生社會關注及影響，並因喚起社會、政治與族群議題而受到重視，開啟報導攝影新階段。然而，相較於已有許多相關研究的文字報導，奠定雜誌視覺風格的攝影卻長期被忽略。事實上，《人間》雜誌的文字與影像相輔相成，文字敘述了影像的深刻，影像強化了文字的力量，每頁幾乎至少一圖的版面，開啟了台灣報導攝影的新篇章。
本展由策展人蘇盈龍與法國攝影史學者米謝爾．費佐（Michel Frizot）策展，聚焦《人間》的攝影影像。展覽透過梳理、精煉47期雜誌、5,497張圖像，重現196位攝影家中的12位，並以訪談影片呈現他們如何從接觸攝影到成為攝影記者、發掘主題，以及內部編輯過程等。藉由這些從報導中選出的單獨影像，去理解照片中所蘊含的悲憫，及其風格上的原創性與多樣性；同時，雜誌報導數位輸出的呈現，除了將展出的影像重新置回《人間》的原始脈絡中，也是為了彌補原始底片散佚的缺憾。
《浮生——〈人間〉中的報導攝影，1985–1989》真實映照出攝影家的熱情與投入，讓他們曾為了記錄真實、痛苦或是希望而踏遍險境的歷程，重新顯影於這個時代。本展希望能將當年不被重視的這些報導攝影的前行者，在這個時代再一次甦醒。即使一路行來黑暗未曾完全消失，人間燈火卻也一直幽幽照耀著。
攝影家：阮義忠、林柏樑、林義祥、侯聰慧、梁國龍、張詠捷、廖嘉展、蔡明德、蔡雅琴 (Yeachin Tsai, aka Tsai Yea-Chin)、顏新珠、關曉榮、鐘俊陞（依姓氏筆畫排列）
展期：2025.12.20-2026.03.01
開放時間：週二到週日 10：00-18：00，週一、除夕到初三休館
地點：MoNTUE 北師美術館 2F & 3F。106臺北市大安區和平東路二段134號
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