From Nature to Identity: Contemporary Asian Photography

Abstract

Contemporary Asian photography is as multifaceted and colourful, as the continent itself, just like its nations and territories that often share similar features and of course have their own histories, traditions and current social-political situations. These are all reflected in photography, meaning the technique that right from its beginning had double potential: reproducing and imitating reality, and at the same time elaborating, transforming and placing it on a higher level of artistic presentation. In this paper, I would like to show some of the most thrilling themes and issues that currently characterize artists' interests and inspire them in their works. Due to the immensity of the theme and length-limits of the text, six general topics were defined with two artists for each, whose examination of that particular subject is worthy of consideration, often by focusing on only one or two groups of works. Among the artists we find some already very well-established and some emerging ones, as well as Asian-born and ＂Asian-inspired＂ artists, since the fascinating multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism of the continent claims to include some artists who get their inspiration in Asian topics and are active in the scene. Through their activity, the continent and its art scene gains a lot: new artworks, new viewpoints, new interpretations. Of course, an unlimited number of other topics and high-quality representatives could be mentioned, therefore this selection may be found subjective - but naturally this paper does not aim to be a comprehensive map of the contemporary Asian photography scene, nor does it aim to discuss all of its current issues, but an invitation to some paths instead, through which one can further discover the topic.