There appeared briefly around mid 1900 within the photographic circle in Taiwan a group of female photographers whose topics touched upon the issues concerning the awareness of feminism and genders. This group, as a whole or as individual members, created some marginal works, which did not cause significant impacts at that time. Although these artists did not focus on feminist issues and their related political ideologies, their efforts and contributions were nevertheless worth noticing. The creative direction of this particular group, unfortunately, failed to continue. At that time, Lulu Shur-Tzy Hou was a main figure, who presented a clear voice and whose art works throughout the years continued to address gender related politics.
Ten years have passed since then. Although today’s female social status in Taiwan has improved, the overall progress is still far from what is anticipated. Yet, female photographers have stopped addressing this important issue, and photography is no longer a tool for documenting gender politics. This phenomenon is especially disappointing and perplexing. In this gap, the appearance of YiYi Wan’s feminist photography gives us a renewed encouragement.
YiYi adopted pin-hole camera as her creative tool. She used her own body as a model to express female desires and female status in current society. Her expression is clear and ambivalent at the same time. This ambivalence not only appeared in her esthetic manipulation of the images, but also reflected in her attitudes towards the issues of gender politics. As a result, the message appears particularly intriguing. If one follows her own description of her creative intention and many of the titles of her works, she seems to hold a very definite position regarding feminism. However, this message sometimes contradicts with her other images and titles. This phenomenon may coincide with the complexities intrinsic of female body and desire: identifying with certain correct position in gender politics does not necessarily prevent her from falling into traditional behavior pattern with her body and desire.
Most of YiYi’s works depict female’s status in a male dominated society. In the past, similar images concerning female desires and their social circumstances also existed. Her works basically restated the same message. Thus, the problem becomes: Why we need to repeat this message. Is it because the universal female status around the world still lacks improvement, or because these issues are still relevant in Taiwanese society today? Or, perhaps, as a female photographer, it is necessary for YiYi to apply a different artistic method to repeat the same message in order for her to achieve self liberation? Or, is there any other reason?
This issue regarding female status is a very general one. Its universality obviously might pose some potential problems of repetition for YiYi’s creative endeavors. This problem may, however, be resolved by her returning to her unique position in the society. Generally speaking, when one is addressing a universal topic, the political effectiveness is often compromised, primarily because the lack of specific context. In YiYi’s new works, which I am privileged to have the opportunity to preview, her connection to the society and her social dialogue become much more developed and articulated. I am therefore looking forward to her new group of works in feminist photography.
