A Changhua County school principal who has won several photography awards is to see his work featured in an exhibition in the county.
Lin Min-tzu (林旻賜), principal of Beidou Township’s (北斗) Beidou Elementary School, has been a photographer for more than 28 years, having taken up photography as a hobby when he was a student.
In the beginning, he meticulously studied photography and took every opportunity to head into the wild in search of scenic subjects for his photographs, Lin said, adding that as he had little money at the time, he saved what he could to buy new equipment.
Photo: Yen Hung-chun, Taipei Times
“Waiting is learning, learning is waiting,” Lin said, describing the philosophy that has guided his approach to life and photography.
Just as every student comes from a different background and teaching them requires a patient and systematic approach, photography must also be approached with great patience, learning when to press the shutter release and then “watch the light and heat emitted from the flash,” he said.
The key components of photography are timing, exposure, lighting and focal length, Lin said, adding that the final result comes in the instant the shutter release is pushed.
“You must wait out changes in lighting and shadows,” he said.
When he is shooting in the wild, Lin always asks for input from locals, who he said are the most familiar with the landscape.
Locals have an emotional connection with the land, and cultural learning occurs through interactions with them, he added.
The principal said photography helps him relieve stress when the pace of his work is too fast.
“The farther I go and the longer I drive [in search of a subject], the more at ease I feel,” Lin said, adding that the mountains and bodies of water he visits open his mind.
Regarding international photography competitions, Lin said participating allows him to see other photographers’ strengths and helps him learn to appreciate the work of others.
Winning awards serves to validate one’s work, but competitions should still be approached with a sense of everyday calm, he added.
The exhibition in Beidou Library is to rotate between the works of current and former school staff and students, representing the passing on of knowledge over generations since the school’s establishment 120 years ago, Lin said.
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