1839 Contemporary Gallery is pleased to present “Taiwan Little-Emergency,” the latest solo exhibition by Gen Y photographer Huang Payson. Through masterful miniature photography techniques, this exhibition explores Taiwan’s roadkill phenomenon from a unique perspective, challenging viewers’ conventional understanding of ecological issues and reexamining the complex relationship between humans and nature.
Huang Payson’s work places the often-overlooked ecological tragedy of animal roadkill at the visual center of attention. In his compositions, the artist cleverly subverts scale relationships—roadkill animals are magnified to become the main subjects, while humans appear as tiny figurines engaged in emergency rescue scenes. This perspective shift not only creates powerful visual impact but also challenges anthropocentric thinking, prompting viewers to reconsider our true position and responsibilities within the natural world.
As an artist with a background in civil engineering, Payson integrates his diverse experiences and professional knowledge into his creative practice. His urban observations during his time as a food delivery worker have become an important source of inspiration, establishing a unique creative tension between documentary and conceptual approaches in his work. The “Taiwan Little Emergency” series is not merely a direct record of reality but a profound reflection on contemporary social structures, exploring the fundamental contradiction between economic development and ecological protection.
Each work in the exhibition is meticulously constructed, with the artist creating a visual language that is both aesthetically valuable and socially critical through precise composition and light manipulation. The use of miniature scenes materializes abstract environmental issues, allowing viewers to intuitively understand the threat of roadkill to biodiversity while suggesting possibilities for solutions.
1839 Contemporary Gallery cordially invites you to participate in this dialogue of vision and thought, using the power of art to collectively focus attention on Taiwan’s ecological environment and contemplate the possibility of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.
Artist Biography
Huang Payson is a Taiwanese Generation Y photographer with a professional background in civil engineering and diverse experiences in furniture design and food delivery. He began his creative journey while studying photography at graduate school, transforming his urban observations during delivery work into a visual language rich with criticism and humor. His work focuses on reconstructing contemporary Taiwanese social phenomena, employing techniques such as image displacement and miniature scenes to explore political and ecological environmental issues, establishing a unique creative tension between documentary and conceptual photography.
Exhibition Statement
Taiwan is an island rich in biodiversity; however, due to the expansion of human activities, the living spaces of wildlife have been increasingly compressed, leading to heightened conflicts between humans and animals. According to statistics, tens of millions of animals—including rare species—die each year from roadkill. This phenomenon not only causes suffering and death to animals but also results in economic losses to human society.
This series adopts a microscopic perspective to portray the tragedy of wildlife roadkill, aiming to raise public awareness of this critical issue. In the works, animals are enlarged to occupy the central space of the compositions, while miniature human figures symbolize humans, depicting scenes of humans urgently tending to injured animals. The project seeks to alert viewers to the severity of roadkill and encourages reflection on ways to reduce its occurrence.
About the Photographer: Huang Payson
B. 1986, Taichung, Taiwan
Education
2025 M.Des, Visual Communication Design, Ling Tung University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan
2008 B.S., Civil Engineering, Minghsin University of Science and Technology, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Selected Awards
2024 Third Prize, SKM PHOTO Shin Kong Mitsukoshi International Photography Contest, Taiwan
2023 Photo Go Award, Photo Go, Tainan, Taiwan
2023 Second Prize, SKM PHOTO Shin Kong Mitsukoshi International Photography Contest, Taiwan
2023 Finalist, National Student Photography Competition (College Division), Taiwan
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Gods and All Sentient Beings, National Center of Photography and Images, Taipei, Taiwan
2024 SKM PHOTO Shin Kong Mitsukoshi International Photography Contest Winners Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan
2023 SKM PHOTO Shin Kong Mitsukoshi International Photography Contest Winners Exhibition, Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan, Taiwan
2023 National Student Photography Competition Winners Exhibition, National Taiwan Arts Education Center, Taipei, Taiwan
Publications
2025 Gods and All Sentient Beings, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan
Payson Huang Solo Photography Exhibition – Taiwan Little Emergency
Exhibition Period｜September 13, 2025 – October 12, 2025
Opening｜Art talk｜Sat. September 13, 2025 14:30 – 17:00
In conversation with film Director HUANG Ming-Chuan and HUANG Payson
Artist Guide| Tue. September 16 – Sun. September 21, 2025
Organizer: 1839 Contemporary Gallery (specializing in photographic art gallery). What’s 1839? It mean the invention of photography in 1839)
Curator｜ I-Chien CHIU (phD)
Address: B1, No. 120, Yanji Street, Da’an District, Taipei City