Taiwanese Aboriginal Fashion Show with Amis Artist Yosifu

 

I recently shot a fashion show of an amazing Amis designer named Yosifu at the Yosifu Art Gallery in Taipei. The gallery itself has many of his incredible works displayed featuring distinctive aboriginal themes with lots of bright open spaces making it a relaxed atmosphere for viewers.

When I got there, they were busy doing a rehearsal for the show. After the rehearsal I had about 45 minutes to shoot models adorning each of the dozen or so pieces before the show itself started. I made five or six shots of each before the venue started to fill up and I needed to take down the lighting setup. Quite a few Taiwanese celebrities attended the event, from singers to actors from Seediq Bale. 

Yosifu's event went beyond a conventional fashion show. The fashion show included original music performances and dance performances in addition to the runway models, which all integrated into a unified theme. Yosifu is first and foremost an artist and his art integrated into the fashion offered fashion goers an artistic display on the runway.

It was a pleasure to shoot his artworks both on and off the runway. Yosifu explores social issues surrounding indigenous cultures and through his work, which I find quite fascinating. I would have liked to learn about the stories and traditional indigenous customs behind the art on the fashion pieces, but I didn't get much chance to talk to Yosifu. I will try at a later stage to discuss them with him.  

Yosifu has an interesting and inspiring history. He was born in Matailing, Hualien County, Taiwan and is part of the Amis tribe of aboriginal people found on the east of the island. The Amis are one of the sixteen officially recognized indigenous groups of Taiwanese aborigines.

He originally planned to be a singer, so at age 18 he formed a band with friends. They got a chance to release an album, but later were prevented from working due to a dispute between their agent and record company. Yosifu got depressed about not being able to pursue his singing career. He took a break from his troubles and visited a friend in Edinburgh, U.K in 1998. He was captivated by the city’s beauty and vibrant arts scene, and he has lived in Edinburgh ever since.

To make ends meet, he started painting houses. Yosifu started exploring his new interest in art, at first copying famous paintings. His landlord introduced Yosifu to an art agent, who invited Yosifu to participate in an exhibition featuring oil paintings by 10 emerging artists. Yosifu was the first one to sell a piece on the opening day of the event.

This encouraged Yosifu to devote more time to his art, and he gained the confidence to approach galleries, luxury hotels, and upscale restaurants to promote his work. Their response wasn't positive, so he began to lose hope after many rejections. One day at a local café Yosifu found out that there was an opening to display work for five days. He sold 12 of the 15 works he exhibited there.

To make his work more marketable, Yosifu started experimenting with painting animals, flowers and other popular subjects. In 2008 he started developing his own style by expressing his experiences and feelings through his art. A British friend inspired him to reflect on his own cultural identity as a Taiwanese aboriginal in his artistic ideals.

Dancers at Aboriginal Fashion Show in Taiwan

Yosifu returned to Taiwan to stay in his hometown and other tribal villages in 2010, to gain a deeper understanding of indigenous cultures and traditions. The journey reconnected him with tribal communities and became a source of inspiration for his artistic creations. He now returns to Taiwan for three months a year to visit aboriginal villages around the island, teach children to draw, and exhibit new paintings. His work has been displayed at over 20 exhibitions locally and in the UK and he has been invited to open exhibitions all over Europe and Asia.

Yosifu is proud of his country's culture and is happy to be able to introduce the beauty and dignity of aboriginal cultures to the world, attracting more and more people to discover Taiwan's indigenous cultures and traditions. Since so many indigenous traditions are fading away and many young aboriginals are not familiar with their own culture, Yosifu has taken on the responsibility to record and present the stories and cultures for aboriginals in Taiwan through his creativity.

His work displays the dignity, spirit and traditions of Taiwan’s indigenous tribes and also addresses serious issues indigenous people face, like the expropriation of ancestral lands and suppression of aboriginal languages. Yosifu hopes his creations can show his concerns about Taiwan's environmental issues such as deforestation, pollution, urban renewal projects, and nuclear waste disposal and inspire people to protect the environment and preserve the indigenous cultures and traditions.

He brings his work to life with his use of vivid, warm, rich colors with light and shade which adds dramatic intensity. These elements in his art are evocative of fashion images. Which is why his art has extensive applications in the fashion and creative industries—French cosmetics and beauty company L’Oréal even used his "Driftwood" work as a projected backdrop for a hair and fashion show in Dubai in 2014.

His work is popular in Europe and Asia, and his works have been bought by private collectors from Scotland, England, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, and Sweden.

To see more photos from the fashion show, check out the Yosifu Fashion Show Facebook album

To see his art in person, go to Yosifu Art:

Address: 7F., No.9, Sec. 1, Jinshan S. Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City.

Website: http://yosifu.blogspot.tw/

Hours: Closed Mondays, open Tuesday to Sunday.  

Lehua Night Market in Yonghe, New Taipei City (Chinese: 樂華夜市; pinyin: Lèhuá Yèshì)

Compilation of clips of Lehua Night Market in New Taipei City, Taiwan from Images By Kenny on Vimeo.

I've been living in the Yonghe District, New Taipei City for about eight of my nine years in Taiwan. One of the best places to go around Yonghe is the Lehua Night Market.

The 30-year-old night market has a great mix of everything from food to clothes. The awesome and interesting street food at vendors here includes fried chicken steaks, oyster omelets, tempura, mochi, almond tofu, almond milk, shaved ice, and rice cakes. A relatively new addition here is the beef cubes cooked with a blowtorch, which is apparently a Taiwanese traditional food (well, as traditional as anything involving a blowtorch can be). As with most night markets, the vendors prepare the food right in front of you.

Taiwanese Hakka mochi dessert

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com

If you not into street food, there are also many restaurants, including good pasta and steak restaurants. On a side note, a night market is not a place you'd usually go to eat steak (Although the one in the night market is one of the best in Yonghe), but if you do want to, I suggest going to the actual steak restaurant instead of eating steak at the NT$100-steak night market stands; unless you really like inedible sinew.

Besides the snacks and street food, there are also many clothes shops, small arcades, and grocery stores, as well as seemingly out of place convenience stores and retail chain stores.

The market is pretty packed over weekends, but not quite as much as Shida, Raohe, or Shilin. Most of the stores and stalls are open from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. There is a Party World KTV right next to it if you want to stay out after your visit.

The night market is easy to get to.

By MRT: Go to Dingxi MRT Station, go out exit 1, turn left and walk down Yonghe Road, and you will see the Lehua night market entrance. It's about a five minute walk.

By bus: Buses 5, 57, 214, 227, 250, and 304 all stop at the Party World KTV next to the night market. Buses 706, 297, 249, 262, 624, and 670 all stop at bus stops close by.

Address: YǒngPíng Rd, Yonghe District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 234

 

Have you ever been to Lehua Night Market? Tell me about your experience there in the comments below.


Shutterstock Lightbox for stock photos of Taiwanese night markets



To learn more about interesting places and sights to visit in Taiwan, check out my list of Places to see in Taiwan

Traditional Markets in Taiwan

Woman selling water chestnuts at a traditional market in New Taipei City

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Taiwan is known mostly for its night markets, but there is another kind of market here that deserves a visit—the traditional market (or "day market") which is open from early morning until mid afternoon and sells almost completely different products to night markets.



Fruit and vegetable store at a traditional market in New Taipei City

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

 

The products at traditional markets are mostly fresh produce along with some street food and snacks. Although the target market for these traditional markets is mainly housewives and people shopping to cook at home, they make for an interesting excursion to experience the charm and diversity of Taiwan.

Fresh meat at a vendor at a traditional market in New Taipei City

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

 

Just like the night markets, they are made up mainly of street vendors, although some stores do form an integral part of some of them. About seventy to eighty percent of the vendors sell fresh fruit and vegetables; others sell fresh meat and fish, while the rest sell street food like fried chicken, tofu, and water chestnuts.

 

Fresh vegetables at a vendor at a traditional market in New Taipei City

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

The fruit and vegetables at traditional markets are usually quite a bit cheaper than conventional stores or supermarkets as well as being fresher.
 

Fresh meat at a vendor at a traditional market in New Taipei City

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

 

If you get the chance, go and take a stroll through one of these and see a side of Taiwan many tourists miss.

If you need help finding a traditional market on your trip, drop me a comment below, and I'll help you find one.

Woman buying street food from a vendor at a traditional market

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

 

More of my photos of traditional and night markets in Taiwan can be found here:

Stock photos of traditional and night markets in Taiwan

To learn more about interesting places and sights to visit in Taiwan, check out my list of Places to see in Taiwan



Examples of My Workflow with Actor Headshots

Headshot shoot for an actor in Taipei

 Headshot sessions can be done in the studio or on location. Personally, I prefer location shoots for corporate headshots to give them an environmental portrait look. But I prefer studio shoots for actor headshots so the focus is 100% on the face, without any distracting background elements.  

I emphasize that headshots should be fun! We are trying to capture a range of images that show your personality. There is no need for modesty, at the shoot you are the center of attention. You can relax, emote, play, goof off, and be free to step out of your comfort zone.

Setting up for the headshot session

I always set up the lighting and test exposures with a gray card before the actor arrives. Having people wait to be photographed while you set up lights sometimes makes the subject nervous, impatient, or fidgety; none of these are good for the shoot.

For actor headshots I keep the light soft and even. Dramatic lighting is great for portraits but casting directors want to see faces not lighting. I position the key light in a brolly box or shoot through umbrella slightly off center to the actor's head to keep the lighting even but still retain definition. I use a white or silver reflector as a fill; usually just below chest height. I keep both of these light sources as close as possible to the actor's face for soft flattering light.

There are two strobes with modifiers lighting the white background with black V-flats stopping direct light from these hitting the subject and white V-flats on each side of the actor to keep the lighting even around the face.

For headshots, I use a Canon 70-200 f2.8 L telephoto lens which compresses the distance to the subject and is more flattering to facial features.

Posing for head shot in photoshoot

 

The headshot shoot

Getting a good headshot goes beyond technical ability. The most important element to me is understanding my subject, the roles and characters they play, and their expectations of the picture. So before the session, I'll discuss the goals of the headshot with the talent to get an idea of the style required.

JJ is a Belgian-Chinese actor, animator, and martial artist. He has acted in several short films in Taiwan. He tends to play the villain role, so we went for more ominous-looking headshots to show off his bad ass side. I usually suggest sticking to head and shoulder shots for actor's portfolios as this is what casting directors want to see. In JJ's case, he also wanted to show his martial artist side, so we included a few shots to show these poses along with the appropriate clothing. JJ also wanted to have shots with and without facial hair, so we shot the first half with facial hair, then he shaved and we took more shots of his clean-shaven look.

Adding in some drama to show acting talent

Brandon is an American actor, comedian, and singer with a big warm personality. To me, Brandon looks like a young Mickey Rourke. His experience on stage showed as he was automatically at ease in front of the camera. This comfort, confidence, and relaxed attitude translates well on camera and greatly improves the quality of the headshots.

Brandon mostly wanted to show his potential as a comedian. We went with suits for clothing to give a polished professional look, but kept most of the poses fun and whimsical to show off his comedic expressiveness.    

Brandon, an actor in Taiwan in headshot session

Proofing Gallery for the Headshots

The headshot shoot is the fun part of having new headshots taken. The difficult (and most difficult part) is choosing the right images from the online proofing gallery. It's important to choose the ones that represent you as an actor. I suggest asking advice from friends and family when picking these to get an idea of how others see the "real" you. Below is an example of a proofing gallery from JJ's shoot.

Proofing gallery for headshots

Retouching Headshots

Headshots for actors are meant to represent what you look like in person. So I do not do high-end fashion style retouching. I first remove temporary imperfections, such as redness in the eyes, blemishes, stray hairs, etc. Then I soften dark shadows, complexions, and wrinkles and bring out features like the eyes, but I do not remove permanent facial features like moles and scars. 

 If you are an actor in Taiwan, and looking for a headshot, check out my headshot packages for actors.

I Spin You Right Round 101. Right Round! — Hyperlapse of Taipei 101

After seeing the hyperlapse of CN Tower, I thought it would be a good idea to try that with Taipei 101, the second tallest building in the world. Shooting this with a square building proved to be a bit moredifficult than I realized.


I started of by using FreeMap Tools to draw a radius around Taipei 101. Then I checked the points
around the radius on Google Maps to see which points had a clear view of
Taipei.

When I actually started shooting the points on the map turned out to have different perspectives, so I suspect that the radius tool may not have taken it from the exact center of the building. So I ended up going thepoints and judging by flipping through the pictures to check. There were some points where there were too many buildings at street level to shoot from, so I changed the perspective slightly.


Even though I had aligned the images to a grid while shooting, they were not perfectly matched, so I auto-aligned the images in Photoshop. This still didn't align 100%. So I did more manual alignment by drawing a straight line from the tip of 101 on a new layer, changing the opacity of that layer to 50% and then lining up each individual photo.



After all the alignments, all the photos needed to be recropped. Finally I added some blur on the foreground elements to add to the spinning motion. Thanks to Candy Glass Productions for the invaluable tips!

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Songkran Festival (潑水節) in Little Burma

There are over 40,000 Burmese Chinese in the Zhonghe District, which is 10 percent of Zhonghe's population and is one of the largest communities of Burmese Chinese outside of Burma.

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Huaxin Street (華新街), in Zhonghe near the Nanshijiao MRT Station, is home to "Little Burma." A street filled with stores and restaurants selling Burmese products and food. Burmese cultural events are held there on occasion.

Foreigners celebrating Songkran in Taiwan

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com

One such annual occasion is Songkran, which is celebrated in April each year. The Burmese believe that splashing water washes away one's misdeeds and dirtiness. So the Songkran Festival is celebrated at the beginning of Burmese New Year. 

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com

At the festival, the street is filled with people of all ages splashing each other with water to wash away the dirtiness of the old year in order to have a clean body to welcome the New Year. There is also a stage where traditional dance and folk songs are performed. The "water battles" are loads of fun to watch. People use a variety of ways to splash and spray each including using water ladles, buckets, toy water guns, and water pipes.  Many westerners also take part in the festivities. I was keen to join in the activities too but would have been impossible to do without getting my camera soaked.

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com

If you in Taipei, I'd recommend checking it out in April. It is worth also worth going there at any other time of the year to try out authentic Burmese food. The dishes there were just as good as the ones I tried in Burma.

Getting there:

• MRT: Take orange line to Nanshijiao MRT station in Zhonge, then turn right on Xingnan Road and go straight for about 15 minutes until you get to Huaxin Street.
• Bus: Bus 242, 249, 670 or the Zhonghe District Shuttle Bus to the Huaxin Street Stop. 

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com

To see more of my photos of the people of Taiwan, please visit http://imagesbykenny.com/

To learn more about interesting places and sights to visit in Taiwan, check out my list of Places to see in Taiwan

 

2013 Dream Parade in Taipei

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com


I've heard about and seen some interesting photos from past Dream Parades in Taipei, but I had never been to one. These parades are an annual Mardi Gras-style event put on by the Dream Community.

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com

The Dream Community is an art-centered community founded in 2001 by Gordon Tsai and partners.  It is situated in Xizhi, New Taipei City. It puts on the annual carnival parade in Taipei, and also sends artists and musicians from Taiwan and abroad to towns and villages around the country to promote artistic activities.

Tsai was inspired by carnivals around the world, such as the New Orleans’ Mardi Gras, Rio de Janiero’s Carnival, Seattle’s Fremont Solstice and the Burning Man festivals in Nevada. 

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com This year's parade, held on October 19, was fabulous. The streets between the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial and Ketagalan Boulevard were filled with revelers dressed in costumes of glitter and feathers, live bands, Aboriginal children's drumming teams, "samba grannies," and elaborate floats.


The parade started at 3 p.m. when the revelers started off at the main gateway of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall plaza. They then went up Zhongshan South Road along the 1.2 kilometer route and heading back to Ketagalan Boulevard where the parade ended at a stage area in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Each year a group of foreign artists are invited to live and work in the Dream Community and take part in the parade. This year, a five-person team from France lived there for three months. Their float was a giant “demon fish” float named Boing Boom Tshaak, which to me was the most impressive float there.


© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com
 
Teams from Brazil, Japan, America, and Indonesia, as well as design and architecture students from several Taiwan universities also took part in this year's parade.

The founder himself, Gordon Tsai, took part dressed as a purple fighter.  Wearing purple body paint, he danced around the floats on the street while breathing fire.

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com

One of the focal points of the parade is the Aboriginal children's samba drumming teams from communities and villages around Taiwan. About 35 teams took part in the National Dream Cup Samba Drum competition. The teams were all excellent. As a former percussionist I realize the difficulties involved with playing samba grooves without being culturally immersed in the tradition. But the children pulled it off, subtle nuances and all.


© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com
If you didn't make this year's parade, be sure to catch it next year. It is definitely one of the most interesting and colorful events in Taipei.


To see more of my photos of events in Taiwan, please visit http://imagesbykenny.com/