Kids and Bubbles

Den took the picture with a sub-miniature Minox camera. After he formed the Taiwan Provincial Photography Research Association at the end of 1963, Den usually carried the small camera with him, snapping whatever caught his fancy. Because the film measured approximately 8x11mm in length and width, the camera became popular in the "era of photography associations," the mid-to-late 1960s. A group of photography enthusiasts even formed the Miniature Camera Research Association, a leading trend in modern photography at the time. Research has confirmed that Den took the photo with the miniature Minolta, and cropped, enlarged and developed the picture himself. A full-framed composition, the work was influenced by the soft-toned Japanese "art-photo" style then in vogue. Although the negative was small, the work is richly nuanced, its sepia tone warm and pleasing. The photo shows a man blowing bubbles, the bubbles floating down from on high. The viewer's line of vision naturally follows the flow of the bubbles, the camera capturing their bright, clear surfaces and the faces of the kids gazing up at them with excitement and curiosity. The line of vision is also drawn to the stone railing, which serves as background to entire families, mothers, fathers, and children, on a holiday outing. The work indirectly depicts Taiwanese society in the 1960s, a time when people were growing healthier and wealthier by the day.