Lawrence K. Chang (張廣基), a Time photographer for over 40 years and one of the pioneers of photojournalism in Taiwan, died just prior to the Chinese New Year, after a long battle against disease, his family has disclosed. He was 84.
In 1996, Time magazine honored Chang at the close of his long career with a reception at the Grand Formosa Regent Hotel. The hundreds of attendees, including reporters, media executives, and Cabinet officials, attested to his wide circle of friends in government and the press.
The same week, Donald Morrison, editor of Time Asia, paid tribute to Chang's contribution to the magazine in his weekly editor's message. Chang's photos, said Morrison, "captured Taiwan's dramatic transition from a rural backwater to a highly industrialized society with a burgeoning economy."
The column also thanked him for having taken "dozens of Time correspondents under his wing" over the years, assisting them in arranging interviews and understanding the cultural and political environment in Taiwan.
Chang was a favorite dining and drinking companion (his own preference was invariably the fiery Kaoliang liquor) for scores of foreign correspondents visiting Taiwan on reporting assignments, not only from Time but from other news organizations.
"He knew all the best restaurants, often tucked away in back alleys, and he had an endless supply of great stories," said Don Shapiro, Time's correspondent in Taipei.
Born in Beijing in 1915, the son of a bank official, Chang lived in many parts of China as he was growing up. Before the Japanese invasion of China, he studied electrical engineering in Tokyo. After the war he served with the government relief and rehabilitation administration.
Following his arrival in Taiwan in 1949 -- traveling with Madame Chiang, according to one source -- he turned his interest to photography.
The hobby, which he had picked up from his father, thus became his profession.
Working first for the Pan Asia News Service, he covered the KMT government's early policies in Taiwan, leaving a pictorial historical record of such events in the 1950s as Taiwan's land reform and the issuance of the New Taiwan currency. His work attracted the attention of leading international news organizations, and he was hired in turn by UPI, NBC television and the Time-Life News Service.
The high point of his career was the 1958 Quemoy (Kinmen,
During the 44-day shelling, the troops of China pounded the islands of Kinmen with 474,000 artillery shells, but they failed to seize the island.
A total of 587 officers and soldiers were killed during that time.
Over 300 journalists risked their lives to report on the shelling of the island. Other casualties included the drowning of six Chinese and foreign reporters after their transport ship sunk.
While most reporters stayed on Kinmen for only a few days at a time before returning to the safety and comfort of Taipei, Chang remained on duty for more than a month, shooting the action with both a still camera for Time and a newsreel camera for NBC. Colleagues from that period cited his bravery as a war correspondent.
Many of his photos from the 1958 crisis remain on display in historical museums in Kinmen and Taipei.
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