Through a different lens
Arthur Chan, Photographer
It seems like an oil painting, but there's something within the frame that doesn't seem quite right; your eyes seem to be playing tricks, the sky and the land change identities when you turn the photos upside down.
This is not illusion, it is exactly the way photographer, Arthur Chan Man, wants you to appreciate his photos - to capture the image beyond your very own eyes. Though he copped some flak when he first showed his creations to friends, the photos taken with multiple-exposures and motion have become his own, distinct style.
Chan is proud of being one of Hong Kong's pioneers in taking out-of-focus photos.
'A number of veteran photographers did not like my style; they said my photos lacked focus points and the messages brought across were not clear,' Chan said.
Undeterred, the amateur photographer proceeded to explore his style more deeply. His confidence returned when he was honoured as an Associate by the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain for his portfolio Motions of Lotus in 2003.
In the 15 photos he submitted, the liveliness and dynamism of the usually still lotus flowers were brought out.
'Very creative, different from normal interpretation' was the comment Chan received from the judges' panel. Impressed by the portfolio's innovative style, the RPS retained the set of photos as demonstration material for the society's members for a whole year.
Chan's reputation grew when he held his first photographic exhibition at the Hong Kong Central Library with two friends in 2004.
' The photos were praised by different photographers. It seemed that my style had finally been accepted.
'Seeing is believing. I believe that in Hong Kong, about 95 per cent of photographers capture images using traditional methods. They only believe it's possible to be creative after they see what's possible,' he said.
'Our human eyes can only capture images at a certain moment. However, that same image is constantly changing with time. I wanted to use my camera to capture the image beyond that moment.
'For some of my photos, they can interpret very different meanings when you turn them upside down; the sky becomes the ground and vice versa.
' We can't always see things in one single direction. Observing them from different angles provides us with different insights.'
