This paper treats“photobook” as a metaphorical composition that implies the role of photographer-auteur, the juxtaposition of text and image, the editor’s decision on layout and sequence, as well as the designer’s and publisher’s performance on printed material. Such an approach of treating“photobook” as a visual account of history is closely linked to the distinct cultural background of Taiwan. As an island located in the centre of the East-Asian island arc, the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, and the southeast coast of the continent of Asia, Taiwan, also known as“Ilha Formosa”, has been governed by different colonial regimes in different periods of time, including the Netherlands, Spain, the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Japan, and the Republic of China. The production of photobooks in Taiwan history was inextricably intertwined with the cultivation of Taiwanese subjectivity that represented the shift from the colonialists’ perspective of this island to the diverse and multi-layered self-awareness. To identify the factors that led to these essential variations over the history of Taiwan photography, a chronological approach is imperative. Based on this insight, the discussion of this essay is chronologically structured in four parts: (1) from pre-1895 to the Japanese rule period (1895–1945); (2) from the great retreat to the White Terror (1945–1987); (3) from the lifting of martial law to the millennium (1987–2000); and (4) the 2000s and after.

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本文將「攝影書」視為攝影作者的構成隱喻, 包括文字與影像的並置編排, 編輯的序列策略, 設計排版與發行者對於印刷媒材的選擇表現

等。如此將「攝影書」作為歷史視覺編寫的方法與臺灣特殊的文化背景有關。臺灣,「福爾摩沙」, 因位處於東亞島弧, 西太平洋與亞洲大陸的東南方海域的特殊位置, 在歷史上曾經歷不同政權更迭, 包括荷蘭, 西班牙, 明朝與清朝, 日本, 與中華民國。在臺灣的「攝影書」

發展與其文化脈絡有關, 無可避免透漏台灣主體認知的多層次建構。為了釐清臺灣攝影書在歷史場景中重要的本質性變化, 本文以編年方法進行論述: (1) 1895之前與日治時期 (1895-1945) ; (2) 國府遷台與戒嚴時期 (1945-1987) ; (3) 解嚴後至千禧年 (1987-2000) ; (4) 千禧年與之後 (2000-)。

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