2018 Photobook Award Finalist
Raw Soul, by Yehlin Lee
Published by AKAAKA, 2017 | Japan | Edition of 2,000 | ISBN: 979-486541-0792
This body of work was taken between 2011 and 2017. Feeling unfamiliar towards my homeland – Taiwan, I found myself wandering around corners of the city, mostly when the nights had fallen. I didn’t know exactly what kinds of photos I wanted to take. And yet, what attracted me was a certain suppressed force of life, the spiritual intensity behind people, things, and the landscapes.
In my creative process over the years, I first learned how to listen, and then how to look. The difference between the two sensory experiences is that looking is more constrained by one’s own intentions. We only see what we want to see, and follow what we are capable of seeing. But one cannot escape from listening. The only thing once can do about listening is unconditional acceptance. The difference between the two senses is like that between employing a spotlight and using a sonar.
This mindset continues to influence my way of looking. Like a submarine, I wait for the inner background noise to quiet down. To simply feel without bearing any intention. To open to the unexpected. To remain silent and dive within and beyond the collective consciousness of the Taiwanese. The “Taiwanese-ness” unknown to us may be contained in this chaos and confusion.
I savour this confusion in the dark. When sound is heard from within, I click the shutter.
~
Biography
Yehlin Lee was born in Taipei, Taiwan, 1976. Since 2001, he devoted himself to sound art. In 2011, he started to take photographs by self-learning. Photography to him is a practice to approach his original perception. He tries to be aware of the habitual way of looking and try to go beyond it. His photography and sound works have been exhibited in Europe, North America, and Asia. His first photobook “Raw Soul” is published by Japanese publisher “AKAAKA” in 2017.
Website: www.yehlinlee.com
Finalist Gallery with Captions
Raw Soul, by Yehlin Lee [Taiwan] is a Photobook Award Finalist in the Invisible Photographer Asia Awards 2018. View more 2018 Awards Finalists.
The Invisible Photographer Awards 2018 is proudly supported by G-Technology AP, Sony Singapore, GetIT Comms, Grenadier Press, Exactly Foundation, Photo Kathmandu, Spoon Creative and Objectifs – Centre for Photography and Film.
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