Postcards from Taiwan #1 — Danilo Bittorf Photography

The first in a series—part documentation, part reflection—on four months of living in Taiwan. Shot on Kodak Gold 200 with a Ricoh FF-9 point-and-shoot.

The limited first set of printed postcards is now available for sale!

Sun shining through palms and tall trees above large ferns in a dense, shaded forest, Taiwan — 202335C11-02

Brick-paved courtyard with columns, palm trees and a building topped by a cross in late afternoon light, Taiwan — 202335C10-11

Rooftop with turbine ventilators and quilts hung over the railing to dry, forested hills behind at dusk, Taiwan — 202335C11-17

We returned to Taiwan in November 2023.

It had been a long time coming. We first lived in New Taipei City in 2016 and 2017—a dense, fast-moving stretch just outside the capital. But by the end of 2017, we had to leave unexpectedly due to health reasons and start over in Germany.

In 2020, we planned to go back. We booked flights. Then the pandemic began, and the world closed down. Three more years passed.

When we finally landed again on the island—lush, warm, familiar—it felt like something had come full circle. We stayed for four months.

It was a long wait. It was worth it.

Woman in sunglasses with a drawstring backpack walking away down a shaded arcade sidewalk lined with shops, Taiwan — 202335C10-12

Covered arcade walkway with parked scooters, a rocking chair and a weathered wooden facade along a city street, Taiwan — 202335C10-28

Street corner with a workshop facade, a rusty motorcycle and an old car door leaning against the wall, Taiwan — 202335C10-29

A Place That Pulls You In.

Being back in Taiwan felt close and familiar, but also quietly overwhelming. The island has a rhythm all its own—dense cities, layered mountains, sea, jungle, heat. We returned to places we missed, crossed paths with people we hadn’t seen in years, and found new things in the spaces between. It’s a place that never really lets go.

Elevated view over a dense city of mid-rise buildings glowing in evening light, with mountains on the horizon, Taiwan — 202335C11-14

Smiling woman in a yellow scarf and light blue jacket on a rooftop in low sun, with green hills behind, Taiwan — 202335C11-16

Photographing Taiwan.

I’ve never been drawn to photographing people. What interests me more are human-made spaces—places shaped by design, function, or chance. I try to document how these places make me feel at the moment I press the shutter. What they say. What they leave unsaid. Often, that means finding something quiet or strange in the everyday.

My color work falls somewhere within the New Topographics tradition. The first images from my “Made in Taiwan” series were taken between 2016 and 2017.

Taiwan is well-suited to this kind of photography. Growing up in Germany, I was shaped by a particular visual order—architecture, signage, infrastructure, materials. In Taiwan, those patterns are disrupted. Familiar things are reinterpreted, reshaped, or simply replaced. The results often feel blunt, improvised, or disjointed—sometimes even brutally banal. But that’s what makes it interesting. There’s something revealing in how space is used, how things are built, how places are left behind.

It’s a way of discovering. Of seeing, reading, and trying to understand.

Red public payphone in a glass and metal booth on a tiled sidewalk beneath trees, Taiwan — 202335C10-30

Two tree trunks rising from large variegated leafy plants on a ground of fallen brown leaves, Taiwan — 202335C10-32

Decommissioned fighter jet on display behind a wooden fence among trees at dusk, Taiwan — 202335C10-15

Geodesic radar dome on top of a grassy hill under a pale overcast sky, Taiwan — 202335C10-25

Postcards from Taiwan: a path to the beach on the northermost part of taiwan — 202335C10-27

Woman in sunglasses sitting in front of a dense slope of green vines and tall grass, Taiwan — 202335C10-23

Woman in light blue trousers sitting on a wooden bench beside coffee cups, bananas and a plastic bag, Taiwan — 202335C10-20

Entrance of a tiled greenhouse with a curved roof, glass doors full of cacti and red brick steps, Taiwan — 202335C11-05

Potted cacti and succulents with name labels on a windowsill inside a greenhouse, Taiwan — 202335C11-08

Woman with a camera looking through the tall windows of a tiled greenhouse beside a garden path, Taiwan — 202335C11-06

Woman in a face mask and orange trousers looking at plants through greenhouse windows on a narrow brick path, Taiwan — 202335C11-10

Small plant growing on a stone ledge below greenhouse windows with ferns pressed against the glass, Taiwan — 202335C11-09

Coiled yellow garden hose hanging on a white tiled wall patterned with the shadows of leaves, Taiwan — 202335C11-25

Red brick corner building with a garage door, traffic cones and yellow road markings at a quiet intersection, Taiwan — 202335C11-23

Car under a grey cover parked alone in an empty lot in front of a stone retaining wall, Taiwan — 202335C11-22

Narrow lane leading to a small red brick house in front of a white high-rise apartment block, Taiwan — 202335C11-28

Corner shop with calligraphy signage, ceramic vases in the window and stone lions beside a cobbled street, Taiwan — 202335C11-32

Older white sedan with a dark hood parked by an overgrown wall in bright sunlight, Taiwan — 202335C11-26

Cup of coffee on a café counter with pour-over drippers and glass carafes on scales behind it, Taiwan — 202335C11-37

Self-portrait of the photographer in a mirror, raising a compact camera beside a glowing globe lamp, Taiwan — 202335C11-13

Tech Talk

All images were made with a Ricoh FF-9 point-and-shoot. Unless otherwise noted, the film is Kodak Gold 200. I develop everything myself, using a rotary drum in my home lab, then scan the negatives with a Nikon D810. The conversion is done with Negative Lab Pro in Lightroom.

If you have questions about the process, feel free to reach out.

Five printed postcards fanned out on a wooden table next to a roll of film and a compact film camera

Fanned set of printed postcards on a wooden table, one card turned to show its back printed “Postcards from Taiwan”

Get your Postcards from Taiwan!

Postcards from Taiwan #1 are now available as haptic products. Buying one set of Postcards will support this project and my analog work. Limited to 6 Sets!

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