MATTERS OF ART THE

Photographer UNTIL CHAN’s portfolio includes numerous celebrity and fashion shoots for Prestige. Now, in this first instalment in a series of three such photo essays, he trains his lens on figures from Hong Kong’s artistic and cultural community

He came to us with a vision – and having worked with him since the early days of this magazine, we’ve learned to trust in Until Chan’s visual and photographic instincts. Simply put, he wanted to shoot a series of portraits and corresponding videos (check them all out at prestigeonline.com), focusing on the young and the gifted – but with an illuminating theme in mind. “I chose these three particular folks as I wanted to find young people who are deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture and taking part in activities from a bygone era,” he says. “For most people today, including myself, most aspects of traditional Chinese artistry seem to be for the elderly, by the elderly. But I wanted to show contemporary artists who are doing well and carrying the flag forward. I wanted to introduce readers to those who are still in their twenties and thirties, who have day jobs too, but haven’t forgotten their ethnic roots.” Thus, we have Chinese calligraphy artist Packy Lai, Chinese-opera star Keith Lai and erhu instrumentalist Chan Pik-sum captured on film and video. “I wanted to show how they’ve been working hard and how they’re keeping fresh these old methodologies,” he says, having done his own research on the individuals in question for this endeavour. “All three of them started their art in childhood and maintained it into adulthood. They’ve loved their culture from a young age and work from the heart; they love their respective arts and they want to find a way to mix something new with the traditional.” Chan spent several days with the artists, chatting with them about themselves and how they could collaborate on this passion project. Calligraphy artist Packy Lai wanted Chan to do the portraiture in her small studio in PMQ , while Chineseopera artist Keith Lai opted for the vibrant backstage of an old-fashioned traditional Chinese theatre to let people know more about the step-by-step process of what happens behind the scenes. “Finally, with Chan Pik-sum, the erhu musician, we wanted to do it outside with some natural elements. The overall theme is chun chuan, which roughly translates to ‘inheritance’. As Hongkongers, we’re constantly racing to what’s next, but let’s not forget what was.”