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Axel Ling
凌文滔
Photographed by Andreas Bocher

今日有請

1) When did you start photography?

2) Why publish a photography book?

3) 可以介紹一下你的作品?

4) What difficulties will you encounter when publishing?

5) How to overcome the above problems?

6) Introduce a photography book you like.

7) Any advice for photographers who want to prepare for publication?

It was during my senior year of high school that I formally explored the possibility of creating art through photography. In the summer of 2017, I casually flipped through a magazine while visiting a coffee shop with my middle school classmates. Unexpectedly, when I uncovered the content, it contained an exclusive interview and street photos by Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama. I was immediately shocked by the sincere, wild, painterly and high-contrast street photography of Moriyama Avenue. My mind went blank for about half an hour. During this period, I still remember the feeling of blood vessels dilating, heartbeat speeding up, and body sweating. This was because for the first time I saw the essence of photography - the dissection, ingestion and re-interpretation of time and space. From then on, there was always at least one camera by my side, and the secrets hidden in my life gradually unfolded before my eyes in different ways.

Creating a book in the form of a photo album is a series of still photos that are carefully sequenced and narrated through the language of photography to describe what the author wants to express. Nowadays, when the virtual world is gradually swallowing up the physical world, publishing a photo album on paper as an entity is of great significance. Publishing a photography book involves designers, printers, logistics companies, bookstores or publishing house teams, etc. from all walks of life. when
The communication, mutual respect, and support between people are heartwarming. Several times in libraries and bookstores in the UK and the Czech Republic, I noticed that the books I was flipping through were printed with “Printed in Hong Kong” and I was very touched. The reason why I chose to publish a photography book is that I hope to see photographers who are more experienced than myself publish photography books, and also to support local publishing houses, local printing industries and bookstores (in fact, without them, not only will the general public’s atmosphere for reading books change. Poor, publishing and selling books will become more difficult in the future). Publishing photography books is very important to the ecology of photography creation. Countries with more mature photography creation environments, such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Hungary, Japan, Taiwan, France, the United States, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom, will publish many photography books. Photographers or readers with different backgrounds can communicate with each other and transfer knowledge through the space of photography books, and the chain effect will increase day by day, allowing a hundred flowers to bloom.

The first book: At a time when society and our own environment are undergoing tremendous changes, "Keep It All, My Dear" responds to and records the process of becoming an adult with black and white photos that are more private and have a strong photography style. It is also a story about bidding farewell to Hong Kong and the 20s. The story of myself before I was one year old. This book is an exploration of life notes between Li and Liu. The second book (in preparation): In the past few years, I feel like a moth caterpillar favored by the elves in Central and Eastern Europe, undergoing transformation. On the pilgrimage, I constantly witness “moments of discovery” (called “eurekamoment” in English) that correspond to my personal growth, often in front of a camera. This prompted me to emerge from the cocoon with a new perspective, vision, and a worldview that expanded my "territory." "A Case of Eclosure" is a story woven from these precious "moments of discovery."

Because I have no experience in publishing books, I have to apply for an ISBN, find a suitable printer, design the spine, and find a suitable sales point.
, you have to explore these by yourself slowly.

Make good use of your own connections. If you don’t have any connections, you can pay attention to the information on publishers and printers provided in local photo albums, and then make your own
groping. You can also refer to your favorite photography books or albums for the basic design of your photography album.

I would like to introduce the photo album "Presence of Darkness" published by Cangqiongsha for Japanese photographer Yoshihiro Hara. "Present Darkness" has chosen to be published without a foreword or afterword. In the absence of textual auxiliary explanations, readers can only embrace the sensory world and focus on the delicate photo content, the ordering of the photos, and the significance of the photos/photo albums to themselves, the author, and society to analyze the photographer's motivations and personality. "Now
The black and white photos of "The Darkness" are so beautiful. They are quiet, elegant, private and full of tension. They are Hara Yoshichi whispering into the readers' ears.

Don’t be impatient. Photography is an art that allows time to settle, space to be encompassed, and “truth” to emerge. If you do it too hastily, I’m afraid the finished product will only be formless and soulless, or even worse, it will be intangible and soulless and cannot withstand the flow of time, because the audience has already seen it. Forget them and you one by one. This is quite a pity, because the photographer's work does not bring any indescribable information and thoughts to the audience, so the chain effect that the work can bring is very limited. Publishing takes time and money, so it’s best to find a reliable partner with publishing experience to work with you.

photographer 

Ling Wentao was born in French Guiana in the 20th century and settled in Hong Kong in 1900. In 2021, Ling graduated from the design department of University of the Arts London.
He graduated from the bachelor's degree program in Design, Media and Imaging, and published his first personal photo album "Keep It All, My Darling" in the same year. Ling's
Currently studying for a bachelor's degree in art photography at the Academy of Performing Arts, Film and Television in Prague.

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