Of snapshots and memories
A generation-spanning exhibition at Kuala Lumpur’s Ilham Gallery charts the multi-cultural, social aspects and history of photography in Malaysia.
THERE are some curious items to be discovered in Ilham Gallery’s ongoing photography exhibition Bayangnya Itu Timbul Tenggelam: Photographic Cultures In Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur.
While there is no doubt that the more nostalgic among us would be able to spend ages poring over the old photographs in the exhibition, it is the inclusion of artefacts – from manuals to photography equipment and photo studio props – that really brings it all together.
It is hardly surprising though, as Bayangnya Itu Timbul Tenggelam: Photographic
Cultures In Malaysia, as its name suggests, is a survey of the cultural and social significance of the photographic image during the last century or so, and not a history of photography and its technical processes.
The focal point of this exhibition revolves around the photo studios here that were, at one point, a flourishing trade across Malaysia – or Malaya.
Through a selection of over 1,400 photographs and artefacts from the early 1900s to the 1980s, we learn about their practices and how this shaped the role photography played in the community.
“This exhibition explores how photography was used, collected and displayed in Malaysia, and how photography shaped the visual narrative of the country. Through this exhibition, visitors will gain an insight into the country’s history, including the social change that was occurring during this time,” says gallery director Rahel Joseph.
Ilham Gallery also reopened its doors with this exhibition, which looks to be the gallery’s main programme for this year.
Apart from the Malayan photo studio portraits, the exhibition also includes a selection of Malaysian magazine covers and vinyl album covers from 1960s and 1970s, photographs of Malayan townscapes from the early 20th century, the use of studio portraits as a photo diary to record the gender transformation of a transgender woman in 1960s Penang, and the experimentation with collage technique to produce a new form of royal genealogical record in early 20th century Malay printed publications.
“Despite its diversity, what emerges from all these interesting pockets of cultural practice is a very particular Malaysian sensibility,” adds Rahel.
The exhibition draws from several private collections and is curated by K. Azril Ismail, Hoo Fan Chon and Simon Soon.
Mystery of the subconscious
What better way to capture the grasp photography had on society, than by delving into the realm of dreams and superstitions?
Among the cultural objects displayed alongside the photographs is the Thousand Character Pictures, a dream interpretation manual that was first published in the 1950s or 1960s in Penang.
“It translates events or objects that one encounters in dreams into lottery numbers. The manual features several photography-related dream entries such as developing negatives, photo studios, celebrity portraits and so on, which suggests how photography culture was embedded within the consciousness of a certain demographic,” says Hoo.
There is also an interesting story featured in this exhibition about a ritual in photography culture here, as told by a photographer who had a photo studio in Penang. During the Chongyang Festival (Double Ninth Festival), the women from well-to-do families from the Peranakan community would dress up and head to the photo studio – not to take home a keepsake photograph, but to sit through the process of photo-taking because they believed that the click of the camera and the use of flash would dispel all ill-fortune so they could begin the year with a clean slate.
According to the text in the gallery: “No roll of film would be inserted into the camera, as they were not interested in the actual photography, but rather in its process. The Nyonyas would pay the normal price but would leave the studio without expecting to collect any photograph taken during this elaborate set up.”
Portraits from the past
Having your photograph professionally taken used to be something only the affluent class could afford. But as more photo studios opened and their services became more affordable after World War II, more people could now be part of this world.
Photographs were taken to commemorate various occasions, from graduations, weddings, birthdays, the arrival of a new baby, funerals, a religious or cultural festival, or simply, glamour shots or family portraits.
These photo studios became a part of the social world, an important institution that recorded the stories of the different cultural communities in their vicinity.
“Photographic portraits in the early stages (early 20th century) had always attracted the dignitaries and the affluent.
“While in the early years it was a commemorative image that only the affluent could afford, over time, the affordability of having one’s picture taken made the photo studio a significant social institution, spread across small towns in Malaysia,” says Azril.
He notes that there was a time where formal poses were observed (and usually preferred) at these studio sessions.
“When going for these studio sessions, the sitters desired to have their likeness represented as the best of what they wanted to visually represent themselves – happy family, healthy babies, a blessed couple in their wedding finery, the ‘unity’ of a camaraderie line of friends and colleagues, as the dominant figure as the head of the house, and so forth.
“There were also sitters who opted to be staged in ‘costume portraits’ with the idea of selling some fantasy,” he says.
The sky’s the limit
As time passed, studio operators started to get creative with the art form. The humble photo studio became a place where creativity knows no bounds – from customised frame designs or trick photography, which places the posed sitter in, by today’s standards, some rather bizarre scenarios.
“As the photography service became more affordable after the World War II, we observe a surge of creative expressions introduced by studio operators through various darkroom and lighting techniques such as customised ornamental frame designs, photo collages of sitters against unusual subjects (on top of an aeroplane or a tower), double exposure to showcase the sitter’s different personalities or inner state of mind,” says Hoo.
He adds that this exhibition also looks at the practice of family album keeping, how it can serve as memory depository and gives us a sense of what an average modern family of a particular time might look like.
Another interesting section in the exhibition covers the picture postcard trend, which emerged in the late 1890s as a new form of communication.
Soon notes that this global surge in the popularity of postcards was due to the improved efficiency of the international postage service in view of colonial expansion, advancement in printing technology, and the development of a globally-aware middle class.
“Consequently, postcards became increasingly cheap to buy and send. Many photo studios seized the opportunity to feature their photographs on postcards. The irony was that by offering a cheaper range of prints in the form of postcards, the prices of photographic prints would be severely affected and demand for them would, in turn, decline.
Nevertheless, postcards increased the volume of photographic images exponentially, enabling new encounters with the photographic image in different social spaces and settings,” Soon explains.
Here to stay
Today there are significantly fewer photo studios than a few decades ago, with many photo studio operators having retired their businesses. Still, you can still find photo studios around town, although it is no longer associated with the novelty and glamour during its heyday.
Soon notes that it is important to remember that running a photo studio is a business and like all businesses, it adapts to changing market demands.
“Some studios are able to sustain their business by adapting to current market demands. One unique interesting phenomenon today is that when you step into a photo studio, very often you would see the sample portraits on display showcasing different types of ‘baju Raya’ family portraits, testifying to the popularity of this genre,” he says.
But with the accessibility of photography these days, what purpose and meaning do people find in this art form now?
“In our digital age, we often forget how complex is the technology and the science of fixing a representational image of the physical world permanently on a material surface. Therefore to understand the meaning-making processes of a photographic practice and culture, one has to understand not just the cultural worldview of a cultural group but also the specific technological and economic conditions of photography at a particular point in time that influences the group’s encounter with photography,” says Soon.
He adds however, that it is also possible to say that the fact that people continue to find purpose and meaning in photography has not changed very much.
“Each culture or community in different times possess their own unique sensibility. It is hard to make generalisations since we are covering multiple generations across a time period of a hundred years in this exhibition. However, we can say there is a staying power in the photographic image that makes the photographic image ever so haunting, and ever so alive and present to a contemporary audience, even as we have embraced digital technology,” he concludes.
Bayangnya itu Timbul Tenggelam: Photographic Cultures In Malaysia is on at Ilham Gallery in Kuala Lumpur until Dec 31. Opening hours: 11am to 7pm (Tuesday to Saturday), 11am to 5pm (Sunday). Closed on public holidays. Free admission. Facebook: Ilham Gallery.