The individual human memory is an episodic memory. It reflects our experiences, impressions, feelings, as well as specific times and places, all combined together. A smell, a song, a gesture, a dress. Humans rely on memories. They can provide a temporal experience, towards the future or the past.
When we experience a loss, our memories become more meaningful. We relive questions and re-evaluate what came before. Upon the recent end of a deep and personal relationship, I’ve come into possession of journals reflecting upon this relationship over several years. These journals have inspired an emotional journey as well as a physical one. Taking one of the journals and my camera, I went to the location that was the starting point of our life together. It was as if time had not passed. I slowed my footsteps, watching, with colliding memories, my thoughts crossed time. What I see now, and what I saw in my mind are in different times, and dimensional spaces. Tying the camera on my chest, close to my heart, each moment the shutter is released and image is created, it is accompanied by my heartbeat and breathing. I close my eyes and my memories merge with the present into the image. Our past, our time, the laughter, disputes, tenderness, disappointments – all of these things merge into a single time capsule. The Chinese writer Eileen Chang, in her preface to the Chinese translation of American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson’s work, writes “He believes the past is the mother of the future. It is the foundation of the future, and to reform the past, one must first understand this concept. He is convinced that transformation must start from an individual.” We do not know the future, not even the next second. The future has infinite possibilities. This work revisits the past with the hope of preparing for the future. [Official Website]
About Hsuan Chung
Hsuan Chung is a passionate photographer who started his interest in photography when he was seventeen. During his college years in Taiwan, he taught himself all the skills and techniques of photography and became a professional newspaper journalist before graduation. He wasn’t satisfied with his works and wanted improvement. That is when he decided to relocate to Atlanta to work on his M.F.A degree in Photography at Savannah College of Art and Design. During his time working on his degree, he participates in many events and works hard to promote his photography works. With less than a year from graduation, he plans to participate in fundraisers, exhibitions, and other artwork presentation platforms in order to show his works to the public and spread his messages. [Official Website]
