Chien-Chi Chang (; born 1961) is a photographer and member of

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...

Life and work

Chang was born in

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...

, Taiwan. He received an MS from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, Bloomington and a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from

Soochow University Soochow University or Suzhou University may refer to: *Soochow University (1900–1952) (), a university in Suzhou (Soochow), Jiangsu, China *Soochow University (Taiwan) (, 1951–present), a university in Taipei, Taiwan, founded by faculty from th ...

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

. He joined

in 1995 and was elected as a full member in 2001. He lives in Taichung, Taiwan, and

Graz, Austria Graz () is the capital of the Austrian federal state of Styria and the second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 including secondary residence). In 2023, the population of the Gra ...

. Chang focuses on the abstract concepts of alienation and connection. "''The Chain''", a collection of

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

made in a

mental asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...

in Taiwan, was shown at

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

(2001) and the

São Paulo Art Biennial The São Paulo Art Biennial ( Portuguese: ''Bienal de São Paulo'') was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennale (in existence since 1895), which serves as ...

(2002). The nearly life-sized photographs of pairs of patients chained together resonate with Chang's look at the less visible bonds of marriage. At São Paulo Art Biennial he was involved in the Thomann controversy. Chang has treated marital ties in two books—''I Do I Do I Do'' (2001), a collection of images depicting alienated grooms and brides in Taiwan, and in ''Double Happiness'' (2005), a depiction of the business of selling brides in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. The ties of family and of culture are also the themes of a project begun in 1992. For 21 years, Chang has photographed and videoed the bifurcated lives of Chinese immigrants in New York's Chinatown, along with those of their wives and families back home in

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

. Still a work in progress, ''China Town'' was hung at the

National Museum of Singapore The National Museum of Singapore is a public museum dedicated to Singaporean art, culture and history. Located within the country's Civic District at the Downtown Core area, it is the oldest museum in the country, with its history dating back to ...

in 2008Lenzi, Iola.
Chang Chien-Chi at the National Museum of Singapore.
. ''C-Arts'', 10 July 2009. as part of a mid-career survey and at

(2011) as well as at

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

, New York (2012). Chang's investigation of the ties that bind one person to another draws on his own divided immigrant experience in the United States. In 2014, he was named one of the "30 Most Influential Photographers in Asia" by IPA. Other Taiwanese photographers who made the list included Chang Chao-Tang (張照堂) and Chang Tsai (張才).

Awards

*1998: Visa d'Or, Visa pour l'image, Perpignan, France *1998: Magazine Photographer of the Year,

National Press Photographers Association The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) is an American professional association made up of still photographers, television videographers, Editing, editors, and students in the journalism field. Founded in 1946, the organization is base ...

, US *1998: Second prize, Daily Life singles, category,

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization holds the annual World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Since 2011, World Press Photo has orga ...

, Amsterdam *1999: First prize, Daily Life stories category, World Press Photo, Amsterdam *1999: W. Eugene Smith Grant, W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund for Humanistic Photography, New York *2003: First place, Best of Photography Book (''The Chain''),

Pictures of the Year International Pictures of the Year International (POYi) is a professional development program for visual journalism, visual journalists run on a non-profit basis by the Missouri School of Journalism's Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. POYi began as an a ...

, US.

Books and selected monographs

*Chang, Chien-Chi, ''The Chain, Photographs by Chien-Chi Chang''. Taipei:

Taipei Fine Arts Museum The Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM; ) is a museum in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. It is in the Taipei Expo Park. The museum first opened on August 8, 1983, at the former site of the United States Taiwan Defense Command. It was the first ...

, 2001. *Chang, Chien-Chi, ''I Do I Do I Do''. Taipei: Premier Foundation, 2001. . *Chang, Chien-Chi; Lai, Cheryl, ''The Chain''. London: Trolley, 2002. . *Chang, Chien-Chi; Dowling, Claudia Glenn, ''Double Happiness''. New York, NY:

Aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

, 2005. . *Chang, Chien-Chi, ''I Grandi Fotografi: Magnum Photos: Chien-Chi Chang''. Milan: Hachette Fascioli, 2008. *Chang, Chien-Chi, ''Les Grands Photographe de Magnum Photos: Chien-Chi Chang''. Paris:

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette Livre, a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachette Fil ...

, 2008. *Chang, Chien-Chi, ''Doubleness: photography of Chang Chien-Chi. Singapore'': Editions Didier Millet and

, 2008. .

Video

*2007: ''Empty Orchestra'' *2008: ''China Town I'' *2009: ''Escape from North Korea'' *2011: ''Burmese Days'' *2011: ''Bongo Fever'' *2011: ''China Town II'' *2013: ''AccessRH, Philippines'' *2014: ''Side Chain''

Selected exhibitions

*1999

The Alternative Museum The Alternative Museum was founded in 1975 by artists for artists and the broader New York City community in the United States.Taipei Fine Arts Museum The Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM; ) is a museum in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. It is in the Taipei Expo Park. The museum first opened on August 8, 1983, at the former site of the United States Taiwan Defense Command. It was the first ...

, Taipei, Taiwan *2001

, Venice *2002 São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo *2004 Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, Florida *2004

Ffotogallery Ffotogallery is the national development agency for photography in Wales. It was established in 1978 and since June 2019 has been based in Cathays, Cardiff. It also commissions touring exhibitions nationally and internationally. Its current dire ...

, Cardiff *2006

Columbus Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collec ...

, Columbus, Ohio *2008

, Singapore *2009

National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA; ) is a museum in West District, Taichung, West District, Taichung, Taiwan. NTMoFA was established in 1988 and is the first and the only national-grade fine arts museum in Taiwan. The major collec ...

, Taichung *2009 Venice Biennial, Venice *2011 Museum of Cultures / Museum der Kulturen, Basel *2012 The Cube Project Space, Taipei *2012 Chi-Wen Gallery, Taipei *2012

, New York City *2013 Museum of Contemporary Arts, Taipei *2013 Museum of National Taipei University of Education,

National Taipei University of Education National Taipei University of Education (NTUE; ) is a university located in Daan District, Taipei, Taiwan that predominantly focuses on teacher training. It was established in 1895, at the beginning of the Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan, ...

, Taipei

Selected sound installations

*2010 ''Many Voices of Immigrants, New York and Fuzhou, China'' *2013 ''Postcards from North Korea''

Sources

*Chang, Chien-Chi
Biography and works at Magnum website
*Chang, Chien-Chi

''

Time Asia ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Ci ...

'', August 18–25, 2003. * The Singular Approach
"Chien-Chi Chang's Contact Sheet Chronicle"
''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', 2011 * Chang, Chien-Chi. China Town II (video). Museum der Kulturen, Magnum in Motion. Magnum Photos, 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Chien-Chi 1961 births Living people American people of Taiwanese descent Magnum photographers Taiwanese photographers