Earlier this month, Dior, in partnership with LUMA Arles and the ENSP, celebrated the 7th edition of the Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents, honoring 13 finalists and one prize winner, and kicking off the annual correlating exhibition of their work, which will run from July to September 29. The recurring theme for contestants, Face to Face, yielded submissions that explored cultural discovery through travel, introspection, sensitivity and openness to others, and this year’s winning submission, “Silence is speaking,” a photographic series by Chia Huang, documented Huang’s travel to the small town of Taitung, where she embedded herself within the home of two autistic brothers, who cannot verbally communicate, living with their father who suffers from cancer.
In the sensitive and poignant images, viewers are able to perceive the soundless communication that exists within this family, as well as their body language and powerful non-verbal expression, through documenting the “silent sounds within them,” as well as the societal pressure to conform to a “normal family life.”
Huang, who attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, explained that in preparation for her documentation of the family, she would meditate for over an hour each day prior to her visits with them. “I would empty myself and get ready to receive the message of them, which is beyond language, before I would go.” The center of her practice, she explained, is to collaborate with people who live outside of society. “I try to find the balance and equality behind and in front of the camera—to find the crosspoint of generations and highlight those who might not be heard,” she said. Everything for Huang while she is working, relies on her intention to be fully immersed. “I don’t always have my camera with me, but when I am working I am inside the photography. I don’t bring my cellphone, I don’t talk to people, nothing. I drop myself.”