Yen-An Chen

Department: Social Design
Website: http://yenanchen.com

Alt Lens

Photography surrounds us like never before. The sheer volume of images is unprecedented as we share our photos online in a constant stream on social media. Yet, for Yen-An Chen, these images seem to tell only a single story, presenting a one-sided take on the world. “It’s all the same, so people are no longer curious about what they see. They think the pictures portray reality, without giving it any further thought,” he says.
With ‘Alt Lens’, Yen-An encourages people to question what is shown. The lenses are made to distort, blur and pixelate the image. You’re not given the whole picture. This incomplete information in unpredictable formats is a wake-up call, a challenge to open our eyes and see the image for what it is: an individual interpretation. And photographers too are invited to consider what they want to reveal before they point and shoot. Because photography remains a powerful medium when used as a tool for reflection.