Artist Hui Choi on Showing Grief with Gentleness Through Film Photography

Taking inspiration from deep emotions and things mostly unnoticed, artist Hui Choi's work brings forth vulnerabilities and reveals them to the world with softness. Today, we get to know more about Hui through his film photography background, and his work as a business owner of spaces which combine his creative passions.

He heads a hair salon and exhibit space, as well as a darkroom service which supports independent artists and helps young film photographers to learn more about the craft. In this interview, Hui also shares his latest project You Are Fine, Forget Me, for which he used Lomography Color Negative 800.

Hi, Hui! Welcome to the magazine. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? How and when did you start shooting on film?

Hi, guys! I’m Hui Choi from Hubei, China. I used to be a hair stylist in a company whose headquarter was in London, UK before I became a photographer. At that time, the cameras I had access to were all digital cameras. I often witnessed photographers take pictures of beautiful models holding their large, long digital cameras.

As I could see their views at the computer screen, I found what they paid attention to was always the model’s face and postures. Nearly all of them. Barely anyone captured a hand, foot, or a fallen leaf on the floor, because wrinkles and wounds are usually regarded as negative, and asked to be hidden from view. Well, maybe someone shoots them. But I’ve never met one.

Then I turned to photography in 2018. I bought my first film camera at a very low price from a stall and have been using film photography for my personal projects ever since.

What's your favorite aspect of film photography?

I’m glad that I’ve not been dominated by the massive flow of information while I live in this day and age, and I appreciate how unique film photography is against the backdrop of such an advanced digital era. Film photography is like a read letter, as opposed to a mobile phone. When we use mobile phones, we type a message or take a photo and then just delete it in the next second.

But can memories be deleted? This is a question I'm thinking about lately. My answer is that I don’t think so. This is exactly why I love film photography. The other reason is that I like to use this tangible kind of way to observe the complexity of the world, and then use my lens to turn the complexity inconsequential. They call this poetic, but I prefer to understand it as—creators make those griefs and sufferings softer and show them to the world with gentleness.

What are the themes that you explore in your photos and how did you discover these themes? Can you say that your photos are a reflection of how you see the world?

I often feel that the way of viewing can improve one's psyche. They are interconnected. Creators can bring power through their creations and deconstruct something from life via perception. Everything is from your heart. It's hard for me to discuss this further. Let's hope my work speaks for itself. I’d rather not share many grand ideas about it.

Can you talk a bit about your experience with Lomography Color Negative 800 film? How did you discover this film stock and why do you like shooting with it?

I started out using Kodak film stocks as my main raw material, but as the price was rising, I tried to find something more cost effective and finally I chose Color Negative 800 from Lomography. Another reason was that very few people use it for personal projects. Most of them use it just for fun. So I wanted to try investigate it in my own way, during which I’ve tried many different exposure parameters. Now I usually do 2 stop over expose because it gives me more room to add my own ideas when I enlarge photos in the darkroom.

You also run a film processing/darkroom service studio. What prompted you to start the business?

I'm currently running two businesses in China. PUSH PULL, founded in 2018, a space that combines hair salon and exhibition for independently published works. The other is Bath Room, founded in 2022, specializing in film processing/darkroom service.

I came up with the idea to start up Bath Room when I couldn't find a professional and comfortable space in this field in the Chinese market. So I wanted to make an open space myself, to better promote film photography and also to gather young film photographers. To this end, we’ve been sponsoring free residencies for young artists. I'm satisfied with my businesses so far, as there are many pals willing to join us in Guangzhou, China.

What are some struggles of being a darkroom service owner?

The main problem is the dissemination of knowledge about film photography. The people who use film now are relatively young, and most of them try this because it’s trendy. Of course, we inevitably encounter all kinds of problems in our day-to-day work.

Another thing that struggles us a lot is the old equipment. They are costly to maintain and difficult to find alternatives. So I hope more new products in this field will show up in the market that we can solve this problem.

As a photographer yourself, do you have any advice for younger people when it comes to film photography, so that they could see this craft as more than another trend?

Compared to digital photography, film photography has a lower bar to entry as a disposable camera is very cheap now. But it’s far more difficult to get started with in terms of knowledge. We’re more than happy, of course, to see more young people know about film photography.

But the thing is that a great deal of information on the internet is actually inaccurate. Many people don't have enough basic knowledge, such as film sensitivity or what details they should pay attention to when they’re shooting. This may lead to all kinds of human errors when they try to film. So, my advice for people who are just starting out is—never forget to practice or explore. Don’t just follow the trend.

Can you tell us about some of your film projects? Where can we view more of your work?

I have done a large quantity of film photography works, among which the projects “Stereotype”, “Invisible” and “Under Cloud” are well-known. “Invisible” is about reflecting oneself through portraits, urging people to listen to their inner voices. Likewise, “Stereotype” also focuses on portraits and implicitly shows human’s vulnerability.

“Under Cloud” is about revealing and healing of one’s traumas. “NONSENSE”, however, explores how homogenisation influences people's value judgement step by step in this rapidly developing society.

But these works are hidden for now, as my personal website is under migration for my new project "You are fine, forget me”. As a side note: my new project was shot entirely with Lomography Color Negative 800.

We'd like to thank Hui for sharing his work and ideas with us! To keep in touch, visit his website and Instagram Page.

written by sylvann on 2024-07-29 #culture #people #places #china #bath-room #lomography-color-negative-800 #hui-choi Share Article