Nine senior citizens from Tainan whose smiling portraits have been featured in a public work of art at a Taipei MRT station came to the capital on Tuesday to visit their facsimiles for the first time since the artwork debuted two years ago, with the seniors beaming with joy looking at their enlarged faces displayed on a multimonitor wall.
Hsiao Mao-chang (蕭茂章), 94, said he had worked as a tailor and was at his happiest when seeing customers looking handsome in his suits, but he had no pictures that captured those moments of joy and achievement.
Excited to see his portraits on display, Hsiao applauded and posed with the images, saying: “One, two, three, cheese. I am very happy [to be here].”
Photo: Kuo Yi, Taipei Times
Chen Chou-wang (陳周罔), 87, said she was overjoyed seeing her pictures, because she — born to a farm household — rarely had chances to be photographed.
She covered her face with her hands, saying she felt a bit embarrassed seeing her picture on display in a public place.
Installed at the MRT Taipei 101/World Trade Center Station, The Moment We Meet alternates pictures of senior citizens and children on a wall of monitors every few minutes.
Photo: Kuo Yi, Taipei Times
National Chengchi University art professor Huang Hsin-Chien (黃心健) created the display with Japanese photographer Satoru Kondo, who visited nursing homes nationwide to take portraits of seniors, including 18 at Tiantan Nursing Home in Tainan, they said.
With support from Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp and the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems, nine residents at Tiantan Nursing Home traveled to Taipei to see their faces on the wall.
“The [trip] had to be made as soon as possible, because the [other] nine [participating] residents had passed away,” Tiantan Nursing Home director Kan Shih-chao (甘士照) said.
Most of the senior models worked for most of their lives and were rarely photographed when young, he said, adding that they were not embarrassed when taking close-up portraits and smiled more than usual.
They were like children with wrinkles when posing for the photographer, shouting and jumping for joy, he said.
The pictures became irreplaceable gifts for the seniors because the images documented not only their faces, but also their life stories, he said.
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