Saturday, March 5, 2011

Life of Tang


- shot in my parent's back yard


Life is finally moving forward. I just finished shooting my first long term project this past weekend, and will be updating my actual website this coming week with the final edit (along with some other much needed updates). Now I will finally be able to move on, and put some time and energy into some new projects. In the meantime, I'll probably keep making pictures like this one.

I've been watching a lot of Wong Kar Wei movies recently (like all of them...literally). He's a famous director from Hong Kong, who's known for movies that are more moody, full of atmosphere, and character development rather than narrative. That and his films are goddamn gorgeous. As I was flipping through some of my old photographs, I noticed that I am definitely drawn to the same kind of lighting that is found in his movies. Somewhere along the way, I had integrated that kind of lighting into my style without even noticing it. I have been watching a lot of westerns/old Akira Kurosawa movies recently as well. I think this shot is probably more directly influenced from that. While both directors have completely different styles, in my head I would put the two together for some reason. When I saw this picture, I understood why I am so drawn to these directors: for me, they both are able to estrange the familiar, in effect showing the viewer (me) things I take for granted.

note: pictures from my burning are up! visit my fully renovated site at www.johnnytangphoto.com.