Bleeding Rock (photography by Ed H. Chi)

Bleeding Rock

Photography by

Ed H. Chi

Artist Statement:

What makes photography powerful isn't the tonal contrast, the composition, the color, the pixels, the grain, or even the subject matter of the image, but instead it's the emoting idea conveyed by the image. Photography captures time in a butterfly net and puts it in a capsule for later consumption. This exhibit is a personal indulgent retrospective of three subjects in roughly three different time periods:

(1997) Nature has one good quality: it doesn't move, usually. Most photographers start out working with nature, so that they learn how to compose, frame, zoom, and choose contrasting angles. The challenge here is learning to see.
(2000) Architecture presents the additional challenge of increased play with light and shadow, exacerbating composition issues. Framing might have been difficult in nature, but architecture dares one to find new interpretations, new ways to make visual impact.
(2001) People are unfortunately notorious for moving around rapidly and, worse, erratically. This is a major source of headache. The solution is learning to recognize and anticipate their movements, getting to know them, using one's senses to guide the lens and camera, and using this awareness to discover what is innate in their motions.

Nothing beats a good eye through time. It is as if I've been learning to see, learning what will make impact, and discovering people's innate characteristics. This isn't just a time capsule of my growth in photography; it's a story of how I've been learning about living through photography --- bringing to life the secrets of how to see rocks bleed.

Palo Alto, California, September 2001

Artist Biography:

Born in Taiwan, Ed H. Chi started pursuing art seriously in 1989 as a ceramist, starting with hand-built sculptural forms and moving on to utilitarian vessels on the potter's wheel. Most works were vases ranging from 1.5-3 feet tall. At the University of Minnesota, he started studying photography in 1992. In 1997, after a 3-year hiatus, he picked up the camera again. Starting with a series of studies in nature on several trips, he moved onto architecture. Not fearing the unknown, he is now on a quest to understand the human form and its relation to the surrounding contexts. In his spare time, Ed enjoys doing research on his computer, and martial arts.

Ed H. Chi (chi [at] acm.org)

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