As much of my life is lived at the intersection of multiple currents, my photography is the natural extention of this continuous churning and transformation. Born into a Confucian household in Taiwan, but growing up in Southern California, my youthful aspiration waxed between scholar gentry (poet, painter and calligrapher) and rocket scientist. Likewise, my esthetic sense spanned from the Taoist ink-washed landscapes, to the dazzling colors of Eliot Porter's photographs. Years later, as a practicing cardio-thoracic anesthesiologist, my life is steeped in the science of physiology, pharmacology and cutting edge medical technology. Yet, as the purveyor of "nothingness", the last guardian at the edge of the abyss, I muse philosophically from Descates to Sartre to Zen on a regular basis. What started as a part-time teen-age gig as a photographer's assistant, has gradually developed into a passion that best allows me to capture, and sometimes if I am lucky, to transcend that continuous churning within.

While technical mastery remains a continual source of challenge and satisfaction, I've focused more of my energy on creating images that explore the intersecting margins of our complex social and natural landscapes. Be it at the margin of land and sea, or between the bustling western tourist and the Zen monk at the Wild Goose pagoda in Xi'an, this is where my pictures are found. I love the inherent energy and hope that's embedded in the crosscurrent. The more I travel, the more celebration and suffering I bear witness to, the more solace I find in these dynamic, ever-transforming vistas at the margins.
It is my goal to share these wondrous feelings of awe and hope with the viewers of my photographs.

Chuan Ren
Chuan@crenphotography.com

P.S. If you are interested in purchasing sign, limited edition prints from 16x24 and up, please contact me for futher detail.