POV | The Character Actors of Chinese Opera | GFX50s

Actor In Teochew Opera (Hong Kong)
 Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved

As no doubt readers of this blog have known for quite a while, I've been working on building an inventory of photographs of the various types of Chinese opera performances and backstages which eventually will be featured in the production of a coffee-table photo book "Chinese Opera of the Diaspora". 

So far, I've photographed a number of performances at different venues ranging from New York City's Chinatown, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang...most of which were held during Chinese festivals. I hope to do the same in Taipei and Bangkok later this year and early next.

Setting aside the eye-catching aesthetics of the costumery, the beauty of the performers, the intricacy of the facial makeups and the "live-in" atmosphere of the shows' backstages, I thought I'd share two of my environmental portraits made in the backstages of Chinese opera shows in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

These two portraits are of elderly actors; the type that the cinematic world calls' "character actors" (these are generally defined as supporting actors who play unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters). I found these actors to be much more visually interesting than the glamorous divas; not because of their rugged and wrinkled physiognomies but because they had presence...and must've been part of these troupes for as long as they could remember.

Actor In Hokkien Opera (Kuala Lumpur)
 Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved

Although neither of these actors took the roles of "leading men" or "warriors" in the operas, they seemed comfortable in their skin to do less strenuous roles such as the elderly scholars, judges and other supporting roles.

Unfortunately, due the language barriers I wasn't able to interview either of these two actors to gain an insight on their lives and background. They also seemed reluctant to allow me more than a few minutes to photograph them, either because they were waiting to perform (as in the top photograph) or just uncomfortable with the the attention of a stalking photographer (lower photograph).

Both photographs were made with the fabulous Fuji GFX50s, the medium format mirrorless camera. Technical details are:

Top photograph: GFX50s. GF45mmF2.8 R WR Lens. 1/25th. f2.8. iso 800. Aperture Priority. September 4, 2018.

Lower photograph: GFX50s. GF 63mm f/2.8 R WR . 1/30th. f5.6. iso 800. Spot Metering. October 20, 2017. 

The top photograph was made during a Teochow opera performance at the King George V Memorial Park (Kowloon) during the Hungry Ghost festival.

The lower photograph was made during a Hokkien opera performance at the Tokong Kau Ong Yah temple (Ampang, Kuala Lumpur) during the Nine Emperor Gods festival.

Beyond The Frame | Lee Lee The Traveler | GFX50s

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved

Spending a couple of weeks documenting the Chinese (Hokkien) Opera troupes during the Nine Emperor Gods festivals in Kuala Lumpur gave me the opportunity to continue my "Red Qi Pao" project which involves photo shoots in atmospheric interiors that are reminiscent of a 1930 Shanghai. This time, I chose to shoot in a studio setting (a first for me).

Along with Stanley Hong, a friend and photographer, we drove from mid town Kuala Lumpur to 512 Studio, Jalan SS 7/26, in Petaling Jaya...a journey that took us about half an hour or so. The studio is owned by Ms Osa Lim, and managed by the ebullient Ms Shay Yap, herself a photographer as well.

The small studio is reasonably well appointed, with 4 or 5 separate areas that are decorated in different styles; such as a dark bar with wine glasses, a red room with old Shanghai posters, another in a Japanese style, etc.

We were to met Lee Lee; a lovely friend who volunteered to model for us. She was already prepared with a 1930-style make up and hair-do, and would pose for me in two types of qi pao; a grayish cotton qi pao and a red silky one, along with a white fur stole.

Lee Lee works in administration, as well as a prolific blogger and what we now call an "influencer" who's involved in fashion and travel.




Lee Lee took her part very seriously, and was amenable to both my and Stanley's directions. We spent about 2 hours at the studio, adjusting the lights and positions. Shay Yap even provided us with an opened bottle of wine and glass as props. For the photograph in this post, the intent was to depict Lee Lee as a 1930 Shanghainese in a train station VIP waiting room, traveling to meet her lover.

Photographing in a controlled setting may seem easier to do than in an uncontrolled one, but I much prefer the flexibility of the latter environment. In contrast to the photo shoot I did in Shanghai's Guilin Park, the one in Studio 
512 felt more restrictive. Not only on account of the more limited space, but also because I am more at ease working with ambient light, and am uncomfortable (and unfamiliar) with studio lights. Nonetheless, I am very pleased with the results of the photo shoot.

Technical details: GFX50s + 63mm. 1/60 Hand Held. f2.8. iso 800. Spot Metering. Date: 2017-10-21 at 15:43:00 (Kuala Lumpur time). Post Processing using Luminar ("Enigmatic Vision" Preset + Adjusting RGB Curves and Orton Effect).

The GFX performed superbly (I also used the X-Pro2), and its 63mm lens was used wide open. In some respects, I wish I had its 45mm lens to give me a slightly wider angle, but taking a few steps backwards while shooting provided me with a similar viewpoint. I am not a tripod user (hence my discomfort in studio settings, nor did I use any reflectors. Stanley provided a small portable LED which was used a few times when we felt it necessary to have some fill light.

After the photo shoot, we all went for a Vietnamese dinner...the best I've had since Hanoi.

PS. If you look closely at the photograph, you'll see 旅游攝影師 (lǚyóu shèyǐng shī) in red under my copyright...it means 'the travel photographer' in Mandarin.

Yan Yang Tian Opera Troupe | Kuala Lumpur

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved

I've been in Kuala Lumpur for exactly a week today, and have yet to shake off the dreadful jet lag that comes with traveling from one of the globe to the other...metaphorically-speaking. 

There's quite an activity amongst the Taoist community here on account of the Nine Emperor Gods festival; whose observance and rituals occur in KL's temples. The largest of these rituals occurs in the Kau Ong Yah Temple in Ampang...however this post is about the ancillary events of Cantonese Opera that are performed at some of these temples; essentially to entertain these gods on their arrival to earth.

The most elaborate performance is held at the Leng Eng Tian Khien Ong Tai Tay Temple (yes, it's that long of a name) in Petaling Jaya, where it's attended by a large number of temple devotees, as well as by photographers who take delight in going backstage to capture the actors' make up sessions and costumes before they come on stage.

Here, the Yan Yang Tian opera troupe comes to perform traditional Cantonese opera during the Nine Emperor Gods Festival. I read that the troupe's owner is Elizabeth Choy who's over 80 years old, and who manages the 20 persons troupe with an iron fist. 

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved

The backstage attracts photographers (mostly local) like a magnetic field. I was backstage on two separate evenings, and while there was a few irritable photographers on the first, the second evening was characterized by extremely civil individuals...ceding space to others when necessary.

I'm not too fond of taking pictures of the performers' reflections in their mirrors whilst applying their makeup...since it's trite and repetitive. Although I have some of those for the eventual narrative gallery, I preferred to use a wide angle lens to get the whole (messy) scene. It should be said that the actors spent their sleeping hours on the floor of the backstage, so the mess is understandable. 

I was impressed by the quality of the costumes, and told that these were sourced from Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong. In fact, two of the actors flew in from Hong Kong to take part in these shows.

The atmosphere is very laid-back, with spectators grabbing plastic chairs from somewhere in the temple, and drinking sugar cane juice and other beverages that are sold outside the temple's main door. In fact, I even saw a stand selling sushi in plastic wrap like at the supermarkets.

Children play near the stage, and when they feel like it, climb over the few steps to get a better look at the performers. Nothing is too formal here.

For those interested: I used the Fuji X-Pro2 with a 16-55mm lens, a 18-135mm lens as well as a Zeiss 12mm for the back stage. I also used the Fuji GFX50s and its 63mm lens during the performance and backstage.