Wing Shya is a Master when it comes to capturing or amplifying particular human emotions and atmospheres. He pictures the tactile tension that exists between lovers: togetherness, intimacy or the hint of the erotic about to unfold. Or he frames the extreme opposite: the deep longing for love and connection, loneliness and isolation. Either way, there often is a sense of time being suspended. As if reality is slowing down and standing still in time. There is a strong sense of waiting. Something dramatic is about to happen.
This quality might stem from when he worked on film sets with Wong Kar Wai when he was only able to shoot seconds before or after scenes. The mood created in these moments, which Wing Shya managed to pin down so skillfully, became his signature style.
We have made a selection of prints from various projects spanning a career of over 20 years, ranging from stills of Wong Kar Wai movie sets, fashions commissions, photo shoots of celebrities and his own artistic adventures.
2020 has been a year of isolation and times of bonding. People have been separated from their loved ones or forced to be together. In this emotionally challenging year we believe most of us can relate the core human feelings he so expertly expresses in his work.
This exhibition opening is part of the Central West Hong Kong launch of which Blue Lotus Gallery is a Participating Partner.
Press release courtesy Blue Lotus Gallery.
Twenty years after working on Wong Kar-wai's seminal movie In the Mood for Love, photographer Wing Shya talks to us about capturing the essence of that film, and his own career as a director.
An exhibition at Blue Lotus Gallery covers Wing Shya's 20-year career as a photographer and filmmaker, including on-set stills from the movies, Happy Together, 2046 and In the Mood for Love.