“I was drinking from 4p.m. to 4 a.m. the next morning, looking at the beautiful scenery for about eight hours. At that time I was thinking when the Chinese mainland and Taiwan can be peacefully united and when artists from the mainland and Taiwan can have more opportunities to communicate.”
Like “The Sea in Golden
“I met her, along with her two children and her husband in 1959 before I went to Japan. When I met her again three years later after returning from Japan, her husband had died from disease and she had had a third child. I thought that how can a blind mother take care of three children, so I suggested to her to send one child to my friend’s orphanage. However, she refused and said they could be the happiest children in her care. When she told me that, she smiled happily. At that moment, I took this photo.”
About 40 years have passed and Si Chi Ko still remembers this blind mother. He said the blind mother left the children when they had grown up. She would rather be a beggar on the street than be looked after by her children since she didn’t want to be a burden to them.
“I don’t know where she is now. Maybe she has already died. However, this blind mother is still at the bottom of my heart. “
Most of the works can reflect Si Chi Ko’s principle in photography. The simplest is the best.
“I got an invitation from National Geographic when I was in the United States. I thought about it for one week and refused them kindly, since I didn’t want to stop my photographs at the recording level. I wanted them to be real art like paintings and sculptures. I have been working hard at it for more than twenty years.”
The exhibition has attracted many visitors in China and abroad. Ma Shiqi, a writer and calligrapher from Xi’an in northwestern China, highly praised the usage of color in “The Sea in Golden Light”.
“The usage of the color is a taboo in painting and calligraphy since not everyone can use those colors in a proper way. Only a master like Si Chi Ko, who has surpassed a certain level, can make it. Ordinary people may have seen it but he or she is not likely to see the beauty of it.”
Si Chi Ko has not only gained recognition from Chinese artists but also from international admirers. Pedro Coelho from Portugal knew Ko since five years ago but not in person. He found it a big surprise to meet him face to face in China during his trip here. Pedro Coelho sees inspiration in Si Chi Ko’s photographs.
“He expresses the life of simple people. The simple life, simple houses and how people live. These give my heart very great emotion, as a matter of fact. “
This year is the 20th anniversary of the founding of China Friendship Associate of Cultural Circles. The photograph exhibition of Si Chi Ko is an essential part of the celebration of the anniversary.