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LOVE TO DANCE

SEDUCTION

Through The Five Passes | iPhone 14 Pro

The Chinese Year of the Rabbit starts on January 22, and Apple has released its new cinematic showcase for its iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max to coincide with it by releasing a reinvention of the renowned Chinese Opera “Through the Five Passes”.

Award winning director Peng Fei and director of photography Luo Dong used only iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max to produce this nearly 18-minute-long Chinese New Year film. It's also reported that they used no external/additional lenses nor specialized equipment...though I read that there was some ingenious "home made" add-ons to assist in the shooting. They heavily relied on the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro Max’s action mode, low-light, and cinematic mode features.

The whole 18 minute "Through the Five Passes" is a story about the Chinese virtue of resilience, and a man’s perseverance in keeping the art of Chinese Opera alive.

I am tremendously impressed with this showcase, especially as it highlights an artistic and cultural performance that I spent 2 years documenting the Chinese Opera of the Diaspora.

It's Time For Esther

Singing In The Rain With Frankie

Esther | SoHo Cinematic

I had two photo sessions during the past weekend; one of which was with Esther, an actor and model. Apart from still photography, we also worked on a handful of video clips (destined for Instagram reels), and I chose this one (26 seconds) which I fiddled with using Vimeo's new creation tools. The clips were made with the Fuji X-Pro3's 4K option.

More will come soon.

SARAN KILLS IT!

I've created a video to incorporate a movie clip of Saran, and a half dozen photographs of her in Soho. It supplements my earlier post Saran: The Catwalk.

YURIKA | BORN TO DANCE

I've reworked the Born To Dance video to incorporate another clip by Yurika, and a half dozen photographs of her in Soho.

Bao Bleu

A just published article in the T Magazine of The New York Times caught my eye and while it's a sort of advertisement for an exquisitely elegant dim sum Chinese restaurant in Paris, the video -which I found on its website- reminded me of Wong Kar Wai's famous In The Mood For Love and my own The Wasted Years (which was photographed in a Chinese restaurant in NYC's West Village).

From the article: "...The bao and dim sum restaurant nods to traditional Chinese teahouses and incorporates bold materials and colors, particularly the blue and white of traditional porcelain. The ground floor features velvet banquettes and an oversize reproduction of a Ming painting offset by neon yellow trim, while the upper level has more of a boudoir feel. Armchairs and daybeds replace tables and chairs, and Maison Martin Morel floral wallpaper inspired by Wong Kar-wai’s film “In the Mood for Love” sets a romantic scene for throwing back char siu bao, Dongpo pork and ginger milk pudding.

In comparison, here's The Wasted Years:

Galiya Serdali | Magazine

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A post shared by GALIYA aka GG (@galiyaserdali)

Following the very successful and productive 3-hour photo session with Galiya Serdali, I had Blurb print a 20 page glossy magazine of her best photographs.

Here is a short Instagram Reel featuring Galiya opening the package which she received today, and showing us the magazine.

Dressed For The Image

 

Influenced by Marlene Dietrich's stylish photographs, I provided Nimika Thapa with a top hat for a photo session in the streets of NYC's SoHo district. Marlene Dietrich - the world's most famous actress in the 1930-1950s- was known to dress unconventionally. She pushed boundaries by wearing men's clothing which was almost scandalous at the time, and was one of the first women to wear a top hat. She famously said "I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men"...hence the title I chose for the audio slideshow.

East Meets West | With Meg Tsai | Fashion Film

For the first blog post of 2022, I feature a short fashion film titled "East Meets West" with Meg Tsai as the ideal exemplar to personify the fusion of Eastern and Western cultures and aesthetics. 

Wearing a quintessential Chinese cheongsam (or qi pao) against the typical backdrops of NYC's SoHo and modern streetwear in its Chinatown streets underscores how the "city that never sleeps" is the world's prime melting pot of traditions, cultures, styles and characteristics...and will always be.

To accompany the images, I chose "The Ramble", a 1929 jazzy number. 

Monsoon Returns | A Fashion Film In Hanoi

For the last blog post on 2021, I've chosen to feature an all-too short fashion film originating in Hanoi very well produced by 50 Film Vietnam, and photographed by the talented Minh Nhon (Le Nguyen Tuan Minh). The fashion film is titled GIÓ MÙA VỀ (When Monsoon returns) and features the gorgeous model Ánh Ngoc.

Some of the stills of this project can be found on Minh Nhon's Behance website. 

Photo © Minh Nhon

The Sisters | Nyangath & Thanowa Lual

The Sisters is a collection of photographs of Nyangath and Thanowa Lual; both originally from South Sudan, and now models, college students and entrepreneurs in New York City. In recognition of their heritage, I chose a Dinka soundtrack titled 'Malaika" by the South Sudanese singer Alijoma Mabil.

The photographs were made in the streets of SoHo, New York City using a Fuji GFX50S/45mm and the Fuji X-Pro2/18mm.

The Vimeo version is below:

The Street Diva | "Dance Like This"

Things often fall into place for a reason...so when I noticed Meg in Washington Square Park, and photographed her on-the-fly (see my older post about it) being with a group of dancers, it was for a reason.

Through what I call the Instagram 'tentacles', we connected and I proposed we produce an audio slideshow merging still photographs, video and a soundtrack of her style of dancing, and which would feature the grunginess of the SoHo neighborhood.

A day and a time were agreed on, and the photo/video session took place on Mercer street. Meg brought her portable Bluetooth speaker to play her music tracks while I filmed her moves.

I soon found out that her favored dancing style was 'Dancehall"...defined as a genre of Jamaican popular music originated in the late 1970s having roots in Folk and Reggae. I initially mistook it for hip hop, but it's a very distinct sound and style and quite different.

A quick search provided a list of catchy Dancehall songs, and I settled for 'Dance Like This' by A. Pass, a well-known Ugandan musician and songwriter. I thought it was a perfect match for Meg's style.

I worked on the multimedia piece for a week, and uploaded the result on YouTube (above) and on my Vimeo channel as well.

The stills were made using the Fuji GFX50S/45mm f2.8 and the X-Pro2/Zeiss 12mm. The video was done with the GFX50S/45mm. 

Fashion In The Land Of The Thunder Dragon

Video by Khanh Nguyen for Đẹp Magazine

I came across this well produced video produced by Khanh Nguyen for the well known Vietnamese fashion magazine, and decided to post it here to highlight my strong interest in the intersection of travel and ethnic fashion photography. 

I've traveled to Bhutan a number of times (2000, 2006, 2008 and 2009) either solo or leading a group expedition/workshop, and it's a magnificent country with hospitable people. It's a singular pleasure to view Nguyen's video and easily identify the landmarks where the model is photographed and videographed.

Paro Taktsang (also known as the Taktsang Palphug Monastery) and the Tiger's Nest is one of the country's top destinations which attracts almost everyone who visits Bhutan. Wangdue, Chamkar, and all of the stops on our itinerary are here in this video.

However, I am surprised that the producers did not time their visit/assignment to coincide with Bhutan's Tshechus; the many religious Bhutanese festivals held in each district of the country which are based on the lunar Tibetan calendar. Scenes of the model in resplendent dresses would have been spectacular alongside the masked and costumed tshechu dancers.

Viewing this video a number of times, and while it's never too late, I wish my travels to Bhutan could've coincided with my somewhat recent interest in ethnic fashion. It would have been a blast!

My Work: The Wasted Years

Here's my latest photo-film (aka audio slideshow) featuring Lise Liu as the unnamed woman waiting for her lover in a Chinese restaurant in NYC's West Village.

Inspired by the classic 2000 'In The Mood For Love" (known in Chinese as The Golden Years or The Flowery Years) movie by director Wong Kar-wai, the simple plot of The Wasted Years is of a woman who waits for her lover in the restaurant. She intimates at a mutual attraction in Hong Kong some years ago, and tell us they had agreed to meet in New York when it became possible for them in order to continue the relationship.

The title of The Wasted Years is also inspired by the Chinese metaphor (花樣年華) meaning the fleeting time of youth, beauty and love.

I leave it to the viewer to decide if the man she loves does show up after her long wait...

I was of two minds insofar as the music sound track is concerned. I initially wanted to use a Shanghainese romantic song but, following Wong Kar-wai lead in mixing West and East when he used Nat King Cole's 'Quizas Quizas', I chose the well known La Vie En Rose by Edith Piaf...the classic French love song.

I used color grading (a sort of teal and orange) on the chosen photographs to accentuate the cinematic "feel" of the photo-film. The cameras used were the Fuji GFX50R (Fujinong 45mm 2.8) and a Fuji X-Pro2 (Zeiss 12mm 2.8). The restaurant is Tipsy Shanghai in the West Village (New York City).

Responses: Asian American Voices Exhibit | Museum of Chinese In America

 

The invitation/brochure and advertisement for the event. 

My photograph of Pell Street during the lockdown.

As a contributor of more than 30 photographs to the Museum of Chinese in America which are archived in its collection, I received an invitation to attend a preview reception to Responses: Asian American Voices Resisting the Tides of Racism, which will include some of these photographs. 

Although all the photos I made during these awful months of New York City's lockdown were made in color (both jpegs and RAW) using the Fuji X-Pro2 and the Fujinon 18mm, they were converted to and displayed as monochromes. I thought monochromatic images of the deserted streets and fleeting pedestrians would more accurately represent the depressing environment of the time. 

However, I still fiddled with a few of them in ON1 to achieve a cinematic color, and I liked this one the most:

And here are some of the photographs in the Museum's archive in video format: 

The advert with my photo of Pell Street titled Deserted appeared in the Wall Street Journal of July 12, 2021. 
The Museum also added this blurb on its website:

The Glorious Pain | Hát Tuồng

Here is an interesting cultural -and possibly - less known art form which still exists in Vietnam, albeit on its last legs. 

Hát Tuồng is one of the oldest art forms in Vietnam, and is said to have existed since the late 12th century. It’s believed to be influenced by Chinese opera performance techniques, but subsequently evolved and changed into a new form embodying Vietnamese characteristics and nature.

Per Wikipedia, the origin of tuồng is still unclear but is believed to have been imported from China around the 13th century when Vietnam was warring against the Mongol Dynasty. It was initially adopted by the Vietnamese imperial court, then trickled down to the peasantry through traveling troupes.

The Glorious Pain is a documentary film which tracks the journey of a small classical Vietnamese opera (tuồng) troupe and one of the very few still surviving, as it travels and performs through the Vietnam countryside. The characters who -in contrast to their royal roles behind the closed curtains, are commoners and peasants who struggle to make ends meet. The troupe is on the verge of disbandment with the main artists are facing penury. The future appears very bleak and will this art form disappear as many other traditional art forms have?

Having devoted a significant amount of time in documenting Chinese opera in its various forms and producing the photo book Chinese Opera of the Diaspora, it's almost a certainty that classical Vietnamese opera will not survive unless the Vietnamese government provides much need assistance in terms of funding, subsidy and providing its artists with employment. This is what the Chinese government has done, and its opera has - in most of its forms - survived and even flourished.

I came across Hát Tuồng for the first time in Hanoi (2012) during a photo expedition. The performance was held in an elegant theater near Hoàn Kiếm Lake, but the audience was embarrassingly sparse, and consisted of foreign tourists.

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy | All Rights Reserved

The Glorious Pain is produced by the Vietnamese Department of Entertainment Program and is part of a prominent documentary series of the Vietnam Television aired monthly during prime-time on VTV1 Channel. The Glorious Pain is also among the projects covering traditional culture of Vietnam which receive funding from the Film, Archive and Music Lab (FAMLAB). 

I was alerted to this documentary by Nguyễn Thị Hồng Ngọc; a friend and a freelance photographer based in Hanoi.