The Photographer Rancinan in Hong Kong

The Photographer Rancinan in Hong Kong Opera Gallery

French photojournalist-turned-artist Gerard Rancinan thinks good photographers come with weighty responsibility. They are on a mission to capture eternity, which overlaps with our understanding of what God represents. But despite his intellectual inquisitiveness, Rancinan knows how to be playful in treating profound subjects, and at large, when it comes to narrating the objective, dispassionate reality in his works. Birth & Death - Triptych (from his Metamorphosis series) is a good example of Rancinan's artistic brainpower and wit.

It is created after the style of religious triptychs that were prevalent in the Middle Ages. With its two wings closed as shutters, the viewer is confronted with an image of a quasi-butterfly - a futuristic form that is yet to evolve. It is a reflection of human vanity, which attempts to compete with God and his role of inventing. When the wings are opened, the three panels illustrate the voyage of birth, life and death in an ambience evocative of classic religious paintings.

This piece speaks of three things: first, Rancinan's work is about workmanship and labour of love. His images - including visual feasts such as Metamorphosis III - The Garden of Delirium and Metamorphosis IV - The Big Supper - are single shots instead of digitalised montages. All the models in his works were discovered either on the streets or in the subways to ensure the authenticity of his subjects.

Second, the photographer draws inspiration from classic masterpieces - from Diego Velazquez's Las Meninas, to Theodore Gericault's The Raft of the Medusa and Henri Matisse's The Dance. He is aware that these classics, an inherent part of his culture, possess a historical power. A form of appropriation, they are works that both the artist and audience could identify with. Finally, Rancinan is conscious of his execution and responsibility. The artist says that all through the years, he has been faceless behind the camera. The message is of foremost importance.

He never intends to shock. Using iconic figures such as Marilyn Monroe (in On the Way Back from Disneyland), or drawing parodies from classics, is to give life to an artistic power strong enough to arrest people's attention.