Tseng Kwong Chi - Self Portrait Blog

 From what I understand from this series he did Mr. Chi in my opinion was just trying to have some fun with this self-portrait series. He decided to wear this traditional Chinese clothing in order to pose himself and seem like a Chinese ambassador who is touring these well-known landmarks and locations. Unfortunately, he passed away from AIDS young and took almost all of these photos in the 10 years before he unfortunately passed in 1990. I really like his photos as not only are they interesting but there is a lot of life and thought in them regardless of the fact that his face may be stoic and seemingly uninterested into what the Western world has to offer.

The three photos I want to talk about are 2 taken from this collage above, I couldn't find the individual photos sorry, and then the Grand Canyon photo from the top of the blog. To start with I will do the Grand Canyon one, I like this one a lot because of the fact that it is one of the few where we don't get to see Mr. Chi's face. We get to see his back and this is because of the fact that he is taking in the view of the Grand Canyon for himself, while his face might be stoic in nearly all of his photos I imagine his expression is likely one of awe peering into the canyon as it is definitely one of the best landmarks the U.S.A. has to offer. While he could have easily turned around I think he wants the audience to look at the canyon with him and appreciate what there is right in front of him in this photo.

    The next photo I want to talk about is the one where Mr. Chi is with Mickey, I assume he is at a Disney Park otherwise I don't know where he could be. Regardless I like this photo because of the fact that he chooses to stay with his persona and I think that is what really helps sell the photo to me as being one of the best ones he has. I think regardless of whether or not he is enjoying this theme park, one thing is for sure I think it goes to show that Mr. Chi is enjoying himself with his photography, typically Disney I think is more suited for children but clearly it was decided that a photo with the well known Disney mouse along with this silent ambassador was a good one for his work.

    One of the other photos I enjoy is the one where Mr. Chi is posing with the Statue of Liberty. I like this photo because of the fact that the way he has posed himself makes him seem bigger in the photo and thereby makes the statue seem quite small. I personally don't know quite how big the statue is but with the photograph, Mr. Chi makes himself look like the more interesting to look at. He is well lit and his pose brings a sense of importance to the photo and I think most people will likely look at him first and admire his pose as well, and realize next that he is visiting the Statue of Liberty. I think his whole series is fantastic and I admire the fact that he brings attention to so many attractions but I think the best thing about the series for the most part is Mr. Chi himself.