Franky Tsang

- Franky could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your photography?

- Okay, I first picked up my camera when I was 8 years old, and one of my uncle, he was a professional photographer. And in the old days, that was back in Hong Kong, in the old days, if you wanted to get a family portrait done, you have to go to the studio, everyone sit really tight, and he used a four-by-five big camera with a cloth covering his head and take a photo of us. So those were the old days. Of course he'd develop his own film and print his own print and I loved to sneak into his dark room and sniff all those fixer. That particular smell is so distinct, and he always kicked me out of course. Yeah, so he taught me all the basic, he gave me my first little rangefinder when I was eight. And since then, I always loved taking a photo, particularly human 'cause I thought human face is fascinating me. So that's how I start my photography. I still remember when I was like 17, 18 years old, it was a long time ago, I'm pretty old now, I use a little roller fax to take photo with the girls, and I had a very unique experiences. I took a photo of one of the girl, and then after 25 years, I never contact with that girl and bump into her at work. And I actually took that photo, show it to her, which is a square photo because it's a roller fax. And it was, that moment you can feel that photography is so powerful.

- And was that in Hong Kong?

- No, that was... Okay, the photo, oh, we met in Australia. The photo taken in Hong Kong, and then we bumped into each other back in Australia. He moved to Singapore, so it's a very complicated story, but it's just so, it just things that's happened very random.

- The power of photography sort of across the globe.

- When she look at that photo after 25 years, and she never seen it. And you can tell from her expression, her eye, and you can tell that she is, all the memory start coming back, and that is the power of it, yeah.

- It is, you're capturing that moment. And so you work as a professional photographer now?

- Yes, I am, I am, yeah. I've been doing design my whole life, moving from print, got my master multimedia design from USAID, moved into web, and work in the web industry, and I hated it to the max 'cause web design is not about design it's all about programming. And so 2008 GFCI jumped out and start my own business doing portray family and major in wedding 'cause wedding I got a lot of chance to capturing people and I'm a very people person, I talk a lot.

- Yeah, it's very, very intimate and trustworthy photographing people's weddings. And there is a wedding photo in Living Memory, you probably saw it, by John Benevento, a cross-cultural wedding, which is a lovely sort of McCubbin sort of style photo. And so that's sort of your path but you also take a lot of your own creative photography as well outside your work.

- Yes I do, I do. As I said, people faces fascinating me. I love to take portrait of different people. And I remember once Kennan campaigned asking five photographer or six photographers to photograph one person, and that person telling us different story. And so end up with the same guy with six different, very different portrait.

- Ah, yeah, I think I remember seeing that and then people sort of thinking who that person was from the way they presented and then... Yeah, that was very powerful even about photography, but perception of others as well.

- Yes, the concept behind it is really fun. So that guy is a professional actor, and he actually told us different story and make us believe that he's that person. And as a photographer, everyone have a point of view. Everyone have a perception of who you are. As a photographer, within like five, 10 minutes, we need to capture you, not only outside, but trying to get the soul out from it.

- So you were one of the photographers on that shoot?

- Yes I was.

- Oh, that's amazing.

- I was, yes I was. And within a few minutes, have a chat with him, and then we need to take that photo and capture, using a lot of different things, but to capture that, how we think he is based on what he told us. And I think that make a good portraiture very interesting to do, yeah.

- Yeah, there's certainly a trust there when you're photographing people that you have to develop. But I guess that leads us into your work in Living Memory. So that sunbath after lockdown, which is a very personal work for you.

- It's a very, very personal work. It's right outside our house. So because we got lock down in all the beaches, and we can't go anyway, and that day was a sunny day, and I saw all the shadow from the laundry and my wife is feeding McKella, just sitting outside, and oh, this is a lovely frame. So I just took the frame.

- Yeah, it's like a scene from a painting to me, sort of like a Vermeer or sort of one of those Dutch masters sort of family life, it's very quiet, but the composition's beautiful. Even like a bit of a modern day Madonna and child with that softness and the connection between sort of Alice and McKella, and then you as well being allowed into that intimate moment. One of the interesting things about it is you don't really see their faces too much. It's a side profile of Alice looking down at McKella, but it's still so, so much.

- Yap. Sometimes it's not only the faces, but the whole environment, I guess. Yeah.

- And the light's beautiful in it too that afternoon, is it afternoon light?

- Yes, don't you love our Australian sun?

- With spiles. Australian sunsets and sunrises are just beautiful.

- Yeah, but that is actually in the middle of the day. Very, very harsh light.

- Yeah, yeah, well then you get those lovely shadows. So, what do you think, what do you think being part of Living Memory and then being sort of welcomed into that NPPP family, which has got a long history of like successful photographers, what do you think that'll mean for your photography career or personally, what does that mean to you?

- NPPP, okay. I was in Head-On Festival before. I actually was, I got the People-Choice Award back in 2010.

- I remember the photo, yeah. The yoga teacher.

- Yoga teacher, yeah.

- Yeah, I remember.

- I was in Moran Portrait Report, a finalist, I was in Australian Life. I tried to enter NPPP for portrait, a decade. A decade.

- Lindo, Lindo, I honest, she-

- Yes I know, yes.

- She's a very good friend of me.

- Yeah, she's been a finalist, yes, Lindo.

- And some other couple friend as well. They've been in the finalist.

- The community.

- When I look at them, they were in, my face turn really, really green. Persistent, yeah. So I keep enter every year, I keep enter every year, finally I'm in which is a big, big honour for me. I love to be part of it, and I will keep working hard and trying, keep trying every year. I don't know, to be honest to you because this year is really special.

- [Tara] It is.

- We don't have the opening, we may or may not have the party, and I didn't even see my work there yet.

- I know.

- I know, so this year is really different.

- A lot of changes, but also like some of the crazy stuff with it is the calibre of the judges and the calibre of the other photographers that have been hung in it as well. Like it's incredibly high this year.

- Yep. Yeah, Nick was in this year. He is not, he don't photograph people that much, he photographs weather a lot. I know this guy. So I'm dying to go there and meet all the other photographer at the Gallery.

- Well that was why when we did our online opening and stuff, I was actually getting choked up 'cause that's my favourite part as well, of like meeting everyone and getting to see, like for you to see Alice and your daughter with the portrait and that photographic community, but we'll keep par working towards getting something happening.

- Yep. In terms of job-wise, it help a lot 'cause when I'm talking to my bride and groom, I told them about NPPP, everyone is so happy for me. I mean the most prestige gallery in Australia.

- The portrait side is, yeah. We'll just go with the latter.

- Yeah.

- Well done, you deserve it. It's so beautiful and it got a lot of, I mean, it's really lovely sometimes to go and just walk through the gallery without wearing your badge or anything and just listen to people talk about the works. Yeah, that's one of the favourite things as well. So hearing what people say. And even when we share them online all the comments of what people say or what it means to them or, it's very emotive. So, I guess one thing we did speak on a little bit was how have locked downs and all the changes in the world affected your practise and the way you approach photography, I guess, professionally and personally?

- Let's say personally first, I do a lot of portrait work, I do a lot of street work, and do you, you shoot as well, right?

- No, I haven't for a while, I just love photography.

- Okay, yeah, a lot of street photography, a lot of street guy, when you talk to them there's always stuff by their owned area or the city, and then they move to other city and go travelling and stuff like that and then they will say, "Oh, you don't..." For example, if we are Sidney, they will say, "Ah, we don't photograph in Sydney anymore because..." They always go outside. But now is a good time to come back. So I actually went back to Sydney and walk around there, and walk around the street, which I've been walking around so many times, but still you come back to where you start. And I guess this lockdown, it's a way that you can actually trying to slow down a little bit back to where you start and think about the whole thing again.

- Well, Sydney without the people and the hustle and bustle is a different place altogether, a different planet.

- Well, before, when this first start last year, beginning of last year, the first, the all start, all the Southern city was just so quiet. But slowly, it actually went back to kind of normal, not as busy, but still it's getting a lot more people. And up until this time, yeah. Now it's basically, it's that town.

- And obviously it's had an effect on you professionally because weddings and the things that as a professional photographer, you're making your income on have been seriously affected.

- Yes, luckily the government helped out quite a lot. Without their help, we'd be already all out of business. But then, people are still getting married. They just postponed. Yeah, so the job's still there. Luckily, after the whole pandemic, I only have like two or three cancelled. It's just three plus they might be in, they are interstate or oversee or all their family. I have one of the wedding is actually meant to be 150-people wedding. But because all the major people can't come from oversea, so they decided to go for a very, very simple one. So we got only the bride and groom, the celebrant, me, the makeup, and sunrise on the beach.

- Beautiful.

- Yes, and I was actually one of the witness.

- Oh, that's cool, doubling up. So I guess when lock down eases, you're gonna need a hell of a lot of coffee to get through all of these jobs.

- Yes, yes, yes. Our team is quite full now. Throughout these three, four months, it's a blessing because I can spend much more time Mckella. But then on the other hand is, she missed out on a lot of social life as well? Because she, even a toddler, they need a social life.

- How old is she now?

- She's nine months old now, she was born on last Christmas day.

- Oh, beautiful. How cute, so coming up to her first birthday nearly.

- Yes, coming, coming. But then when the lockdown open, I'll be so busy. I'll probably need to work at least one or two weddings a weekend.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, it will be very, very, very busy.

- But good busy.

- Yes.

- Getting back to what you love.

- But I think I need a few weeks to get myself into it.

- Start doing your pushups now.

- Not only getting very lazy, but gaining a lot of weight.

- Everyone's the same.

- Yeah, I was talking to my yoga instructor and then she was saying, "Don't worry, Franky, we're all on the same boat."

- Everybody's the same, we're gonna emerge in the same way.

- Yes.

- So one of the things a lot of people ask about, the public and aspiring photographers are interested in when you become a finalist in Living Memory or NPPP as we know it is. What is your selected equipment, what equipment do you use, and the style of photography you prefer?

- I always think equipment is the last bit, it's always the last bit, the best camera is the camera in your head. Even the final, okay?

- [Tara] Yeah.

- But then I think I'm moving into the mirror-less now. I always use rangefinder, but sometimes when you transfer it's too slow to work with. So when we work, we're always with SAR, but now I think I'm moving to mirror-less 'cause the technology's there compared-

- And your personal style of photography, what would you think is your niche that you love to photograph personally?

- What do you mean?

- Like, I know you focus on portraiture, but would it be stuff like, well, you said street photography, is it going around and photographing people on the street or just what you'd see at that time.

- In terms of what?

- Your personal style of photography, how would you class yourself as a photographer? Like a street photography?

- I wouldn't say I'm a street photographer. I'm still thinking I'm a people person, I'm a portraiture.

- Yap, portrait artist.

- Even when I'm doing street, I remember years ago I was, do you ever heard of a guy named Richard Bellingham?

- I remember the name, yes.

- He was a YouTube photographer, he was famous a long time ago and he came to Australia teaching in ANU for a while and we've become friends, very good friend. He's a very funny guy. So we actually drove a car to Broken Hill, right in the middle of, at the heart of New South Wales. So we stayed there for two days. We actually set up a four by five on the street, tracking people from the street, take a photo of them.

- Adventures of youth.

- Just have fun. Even on the street, we try to get portrait.

- Yeah, I guess... You go.

- Yeah, so I guess I will call myself a portraiture rather than a street photographer. Yeah.

- And do you have any tips for aspiring photographers? Like it was interesting you said you continue to enter the prize over and over, so perseverance.

- No, just got a little tough. Be yourself, don't think about the end result too much, enjoy the process. That's the most important bit because the end result we never can control.

- You suddenly learn every time even you put an entry in a prize, right? You're writing your artist's statement and picking your best work, and...

- Hundred percent.

- That's yeah.

- Hundred percent. Just be yourself, do whatever you love the most, then you will do it better and better.

- Good advice.

- Yes.

- So what about photographers or artists that inspire you or that you look up to?

- I have a few.

- That's all right, go for it.

- Richard Avedon. I love his work. He is, probably one of the old master that can sew around the fine art in a commercial and both very successful. He's one of great master, I love the-

- We did have an Avedon exhibition here a few years ago at the Portrait Gallery, so I was lucky enough to work with one of the agents that runs his gallery. I've actually got one of his photos hanging above my desk of the basketballers, which is just beautiful. Like it's just a print out, it's not a real one, but I also I love Avedon.

- Yeah, his work is just amazing. His work, it's, even his fashion work, it's so simple, so minimal. And I always say simpler it is, longer it lasts. And when you look at it, the photograph taken in 1950 old, it just still look so fashioned right now.

- Yeah, timeless.

- It's timeless, yeah. This is how, good artwork can be just timeless.

- Who else?

- One of the wedding photographer I love, and he's also kind of my mentor as well, Rocco.

- Rocco-

- Is it Rocco Ancora?

- Oh, Rocco Ancora yeah. He influenced me a lot. The way how I shoot, and the way how I tell a story. He actually influenced me a lot.

- And what about any artists? Do you only look at photographers, or are you often inspired by art 'cause with your photo in Living Memory, it's almost like a painterly quality the way it's set out and the composition.

- Yes, I do. I come from art school, so I studied quite a lot art. I love a lot of painting. But then come down to name again, name is the worst thing and numbers. So I do read a lot of books around painting and stuff like that. One other guy that I really like, it's Kermit, the guy who paint gold painting.

- Is it Kermit Oliver?

- Kermit Oliver, yeah. The way he, because if you ask me, a lot of people saying, how do I put it? Okay, a lot of people, I've been asked this question a lot. What is a good photograph? What is a good photograph? Photos is coming from painting, all right? So the same thing. So what's a good painting, what's a good photo? A lot of people say it in different, different people give you different answer. Light, composition, gesture, storytelling, and stuff like that. But I think a good photo is a photo that you've never seen before. So if you're an astronaut and you went up, you just take a photo of the earth, no one's seen that before, great photo. So we're always trying to find new element or different thing to photograph, or a different view, or different light or using different things to make the viewer to see differently. And Kermit, he used one of the very good technique, which is putting gold into his, a real gold into his painting and this make things very differently.

- Yeah, the light, obviously.

- Yeah, it's just different. Rather than just a paint, just using paint to put it on the canvas, he actually used something different. So it just, when I work, I always try to find something different to put into my work, to make it little bit different. That's one of the reasons why I love his work.

- So one of the things, and one of the questions I have, and we sort of actually started, we started with this one was, can you remember the first photo you ever took, like the first phot you have a conscious of taking.

- Conscious? I think... Consciously I remember, all right? I think it's when I was quite young, I took my father's ash stray and it's a different shape, not only just an empty plate but they got things inside, and I use a torch to go different side to light up the ash tray, and then use a very small point-and-shoot and take photo of it. And I still got that photo.

- That's amazing.

- Yeah, I was really young, probably about 12, 13, something like that.

- And just with the family sort of snap-and-shoot camera that you had, or- Yeah, that's the one.

- It just a very small

- And this is not only you just go out and boom, just point and shoot a photo, but really-

- You're setting it up.

- Explore it. Yeah, and trying to explore it. How light affecting that thing. And I still got those photo.

- And seeing it as an object.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was a long time ago.

- So what about dream subjects? If you could get anyone in the world in front of your camera, who do you think you'd go for?

- Oh, I never thought of that. What would I shoot? Remember there's a photographer, he photographed nude people in a massive scale. If I could get people nude and lie there, I want to try that.

- I know the guy where everyone goes to like a scene and yeah.

- Yeah, you know who am I talking about. I can't remember the name.

- Me too. It's unique.

- I probably want to try nude in a massive scale.

- Nude flashmob by Franky.

- Flashmob nude. That'll be fun.

- Check boom.

- Everyone right outside Oprah House.

- It'd be cool. Well, I mean, lockdown is ending, people are gonna go crazy. I'm just saying now might be the time. Shoot your shot.

- Yeah, I want to try some big scale in nude, yeah. Yeah, so, it's just some crazy thought.

- All right, what about any shout outs or thank yous, that you wanna pass on in the interviewing?

- I really want to thank you, you guys hard work. And I really want to thank you NP, National Project Gallery 'cause without you guys, I mean, we won't, although we still didn't able to get together yet, but I'm looking forward to it, yeah.

- Yeah, well, thank you. Everyone thanks us, but as well, it's you guys that make up the show, you're the bricks and we're just the mortar really that's holding the wall together.

- No, you're the land. Without the land, even the brick and motor they got nowhere to go. So this is the most basic, you guys are, as long as you guys there, we always come to you.

- Thank you so much. Well, now you're part of the family, really?

- Yeah, well, I'll keep working hard. Hopefully next year, my hard work is gonna hang there with the opening.

- You've broken , we're going. What about Franky's parting words of wisdom, so this is the last one. So this can just be advice on any scale: photography, life, your words of wisdom.

- Well, I guess forget about the end result, enjoy the process. Enjoy every time you click on that shutter Yeah.