28-9-21
By cause of the invention and popularity of mobile phones, we live, or are forced to live, in an extremely visual world. Photographic visual records are all around us: personal, family, school, travel memories and work events. Most of us dislike the way we look in photos, or for that matter, we dream of a better look that we like to have and in some cases, even imagine it becoming a real part of life.
Ringo Tang(鄧鉅榮)said to me, “Nobody is perfect. Beauty comes more from within. The outward appearance can be shallow, standardized and boring. Confidence and self-cultivation are the real game changer when it comes to posing. Fancy makeup, cosmetic surgery or expensive ensemble will not make you look stunning in a photo. You are beautiful because you show your true face—not looking like someone else.”
Ringo was born in the 60s. He always talks positively and warmly, often pampering you with a little attention or thoughtfulness here and there to give you confidence. He likes to wear black loose-fitting clothes. In high school, he was active in the photographic society with his father’s Yashica camera. Survey work after graduation gave Ringo no satisfaction. He attended evening classes of Fotocine School of Photography in Wan Chai. In 1980, his teacher Ko Chi Keung(高志強)offered a job to Ringo as his assistant on a work trip to Beijing associated with a photography publication about Forbidden City, the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the capital city of China. Ringo recollected, “How could I refuse the offer? In 1978, China just opened up to the world and her mysteries were finally unveiled after 40 years. So, I gave up my construction job and spent one month working in the palace and enjoying my artistic pursuit to the fullest extent.”
Ringo continued, “In 1983, I established my own studio which made photographs and later videography. Gosh, it has been 40 years! The purpose of life is to make a living and then be meaningfully happy. I love archaeological photography because I can help create a lasting record of what the people in the past created. I am now doing a fun project for myself called ‘As time future contained in time past 如去：如來’. The past seems so close, yet so far. The future seems so far, yet so close. The present will become the past of the future. Given these complications, if our paths do cross at a certain point of time, it must be fate. So, I asked people and friends to talk in front of a video camera to share their honest personal stories. I captured their moments in time including their feelings and thoughts. I shall use these works to organise an exhibition or publish a book. I want the future can see how we lived.”
I raised a subject of ‘public concern’, “How do we look good in front of the camera?” He guffawed at my remark, “Be natural! If you want to pretend to be someone else, you must do it the hardest way such as getting a coach to teach you things like manners, taste, verbal felicity and facial expressions etc. Despite all your efforts, the camera may accidentally spill your beans.”
He broke off the topic, “It may be right, or wrong, or both of them at the same time, that we want to put the simple past of us behind. We want to create an ideal image publicly. Here comes the 3-dimensional problem: how do you want to present yourself? Regardless of your own expectation, how do other people actually look at you? In reality, who are you? The matrix of the 3 dimensions create a lot of amazing photographic possibilities. Philosophically, the conflict of the 3 dimensions also create a lot of possibilities for one’s life too, for example, in terms of how you plan your future life and what kind of lifestyle that you prefer as a result of these considerations. Fake people are also busy having an image to pretend.”
I returned to the topic of ‘public interest’, “Any trick to help us take smartphone photos?” He gave me a look, “Humph! Smartphone was designed for those who knew nothing about photography! Stop fussing and get to use smartphone to take easy photos for its original purpose—to capture the spirit of moment and preserve our memory which will become the past. Remember the extinct small Polaroid camera that could take, develop and print a photograph in a few seconds. Some thought they had no value beyond personal sentiment. But, for me, the greatest beauty in life is exactly to reminisce about sentimental memories of the past.”
On one final question, I started to glow, “Could the young people benefit from your philosophy about photography?” He said, “Good photography is more than ‘the way of seeing things’. Knowing how to take visually good photos is not good enough. I want to feel a strong focal point with regard to your unique way of thinking of things. The personalized arrangements of line, shape, form, texture, colour, size and depth will tell me what kind of person you are. Be unpretentious and be uniquely yourself! Technical fineness does not matter much to me. Anything creative, touching and inspiring is the most important of all!”
A discerning photographer like Ringo Tang is no longer interested to be bound by the above 7 elements of photography. He is spiritually keen about the deep emotions between himself and the persons in front of him and that, through a photograph, conveys greater representations of the meanings of life.
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