TITLE: A Quiet Discourse of the Dead

I photographed these dead insects after finding them, arranging their remains as if they were sharing a final conversation on a silent stage. In stillness, their bodies seemed to retain presence, gesture, and voice. The act of arranging became a way of listening—to what persists after life has ended.

AUTHOR: Hsien Che CHU (Taiwan)

CHU Hsien-che

I am Chu Hsien-che, a documentary filmmaker and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual Communication Design at Ming Chi University of Technology. My academic work focuses on screenwriting and micro-film creation, where I mentor students in the art of translating human experiences into compelling visual narratives.

As a filmmaker, I am deeply committed to the documentary form, using it as a lens to explore profound social issues and the intricacies of collective memory. I believe that documenting hidden stories can transform sorrow into a deeper sense of empathy. Through my films, I strive to provide a space for reflection on the human condition, finding universal truths within specific, often overlooked narratives.

In recent years, this quest for empathy has led me from the social landscape to a more intimate "micro-narrative." I began collecting insect remains and debris from a park near my home, arranging them into "organic performances" on my balcony. This silent theatrical space allows a meditation on death and existence to unfold within the rhythm of daily life.

Through this photographic act, I use these microscopic lives to resist "being forgotten." Within the rituals of gathering and capturing, I act as both a chaplain offering solace and a member of the community waiting to be settled into an established order. This practice has taught me that all life eventually returns to the same cycle of fleeting splendor and ultimate nothingness. It is here that creating through "micro-light" becomes a daily practice of compassion for oneself and all beings.

I owe much of my visual language to the Japanese master photographer Shoji Ueda. His exploration of form, space, and poetry remains a constant source of inspiration for my compositions, guiding me to find the extraordinary within the ordinary.