WING SHYA

Wing Shya‘s skills are translatable between film, art and fashion. Born in Hong Kong 1964, completing fine art studies at Emily Carr Institute in Canada, Shya founded the award-winning design studio, Shya-la-la Workshop based in Hong Kong. Since then Shya has made his name in many publications (including i-D UK and Vogue Italia) and films (such as “Hot Summer Days,” 2010 and “Love In Space,” 2011).

Working with acclaimed director Wong Kar-Wai as a behind-the-scenes photographer on film sets (In The Mood For Love, 2000) Shya specialises in capturing the atmosphere surrounding his subjects- usually couples- while they are off camera in aestheticised scenes. I am highly interested in the use of cinematic prose throughout his images- showing a narrative from an outsider perspective with the camera rarely being acknowledged by the subjects except through a mask, like sunglasses (bottom left image of mood board above). Similar to my first artist reference (Claudia Andujar) I have decided to study Shya’s work as a response to the exam theme of simple v complex due to his use of cinematic compositions, including the lighting in a scene and the atmosphere the image creates, where a narrative and story can be taken from the image- Shya’s images, although cinematic, much like Andujar’s are not staged, Shya says himself “I won’t try to overshadow the moment. I always try to make myself as ‘small’ as possible. I just enjoy the process of photography; I want to take in the atmosphere and people I’m photographing.” (https://neocha.com/magazine/the-moments-in-between/, December 12, 2017 accessed 27/03/2023).

This image taken on the set of “Happy Together” showcases the two main characters, as on movie sets, there can be no interruptions when a take begins Shya can only take images before and after filming- capturing the transition moment, where an actor takes their guard down and is between their character and their authentic self. There is a consistent theme of waiting and suspense in Shya’s work, proven in this image where there seems to be a narrative which has been captured in a moment (since the image is from a film set, this is the case). The image itself is saturated in colour; presenting vibrant purple, orange and red- usually quite positive colours- however the use of stark overhead lighting (artificial) to create bold shadows creates a more emotionally turmoil, impassioned image. This idea is shown through how the subjects are binary opposites, one veiled in shadow and the other in light: one seeming more aggressive and one seeming more open as portrayed through the lighting where the butterfly lighting technique is used- revealing very little about the subject itself. The image itself- although grainy- is in sharp focus to the subjects with no blur except in the background, making the surroundings look more hazy and dream-like. The red writing on the left side of the image is also a central focal point- drawing the viewers attention to the more open subject along with the draw of the purple wall.