Nothing To Declare

A picture springs to mind. Vision, recognition and knowledge are inseparably connected. Does one want to tell stories with pictures, then one is confronted with the generalization of subjective moments. When one travels as a photographer through foreign lands, one becomes overwhelmed with all the novelties encountered. To penetrate this visual flood, to see through the clichés, to interpret the visible and invisible signs is a challenge as great as piercing the mist of the daily grind in familiar realms.Spreading over about the same area as Baden-Württemberg, with the population of 642 residents per km2, Taiwan is the 4th most densely populated country worldwide. Since the end of WWII and the associated re-transmission of the island from Japan to China, one can still sense the aspirations of sovereignty toward the mainland republic. Just recently, Beijing looked on as UN declared that: »If Taiwan chooses independence, it chooses war«. The german speaking countries do not maintain embassies on the island, however, Germany is one of the most important trading partners, with a trading volume of 13 Billion US dollars in 2012 alone. Besides its still unresolved legal status, Taiwan is caught in a tension war between the ancient asian tradition, which in contrast to mainland China is still practiced and celebrated in many places, and on the other hand the strong western influence. Buddhism and Confucianism compete with Asia-Pop and baseball; western capitalism and globalization come up against Japanese competition and work relationships. Taiwan is the last land in which the ancient, traditional Chinese is still spoken and at the same time the very first Democracy in all of Asia.

Edition of 40, numbered