T.O. Lee Consultants Ltd

We all miss you, Becky!

We all miss you, Becky!
By the end of August, I received a note from Becky Cho that she will be leaving Hong Kong for Taiwan in September to set up a stock photo house there after her success with the same corporation in Hong Kong.
I think it is now time to make an interview with her to wrap up the things she has done towards the Hong Kong visual arts development.
Becky considers herself a 'rational' and 'balanced' lover of visual arts. This is exactly the reason why she chose marketing and business management degree course in her college days other than a MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degree as most of the frenetic lovers of visual arts, such as my friends Michael Chan and Wong Wo Bik did. Contrary to most people's impression, she does not consider herself as a 'power lady'. She has really no ambition to build up an empire. If she could have a free choice (which most of us don't unfortunately), she would like to spend her time creating images and enjoying happy family life with a husband and two or three children.
After graduation overseas, the first project she did was to help her painter sister to organise an exhibition, which involved marketing, advertising, publicity and other aspects of art administration. Then she met her first professional photographer, Ko Chi Keung and then being introduced to other pros like Alan Yip, Johny Koo, Robert Lam and "Faman" Wong Fa Yan, who were sharing the same view that pros in Hong Kong need to unite together to create a stronger alliance. She was then commissioned to set up the Hong Kong Institute of Professional Photographers (HKIPP). This project gave her a lot of opportunities to meet all the pros in Hong Kong and she had gained a lot of good experience in getting along with pros who were artists by nature. From my view, Becky is born for the job as her human skills are terrific.
She also did some freelance posing for the pros occasionally. Then one day she asked herself the question: "Other than merely posing for others, can I get more involvement, seeing the world through the photographic lens and creating my own images?" Naturally, her first mentor was Ko Chi Keung who took her for a photographic trip to Tibet, China. Then she learnt a lot from other masters like Leong Ka Tai who also asked her to help setting up his studio business. Then came Neil Farren who commissioned her to set up a stock photo house in Hong Kong. To tell our readers a little secret, before that I had also approached her to fill vacancy of marketing manager in Jardines, the sole agent of Canon cameras. Unfortunately, the senior management thought that a gentleman would be more appropriate for this post. As a corporate executive, sometimes I had to implement a corporate decision though I did not necessarily agree. From my experience, the camera is a very sophisticated product, and should not be seen as a kind of "consumer durable".
Becky is a very popular free consultant for most of the pros, including their apprentices, on administration, marketing, publicity, fund raising, and organisation of exhibitions. When she decides to leave Hong Kong, it is not a cliche to say that it will be indeed a great loss to Hong Kong. She hopes that I can fill up the gap she has left. Well, I am now giving advices to Sam Liu to launch his computer studio flash light control units in Photokina 94 in Koln. I am happy to do that provided it does not clash with my consultancy, training and arbitration works on letter of credit, bill of lading and chartering. Becky also expects pros in HKIPP to have more "cohesiveness" for the well being of the Institute.
Becky can see a lot of colours in B/W photography which I totally agree. And that is exactly the reason why she embraces B/W photography. Through hand painting, B/W photography also can provide her with the flexibility to present the colours based on her 'feeling' other than on the 'actual' colours of the subjects. This also differentiates fine arts photography with documentary photography. She has chosen for our readers four hand painted B/W images she took recently.
Becky seldom takes a scenic shot without an human figure which she thinks can add interest to the otherwise rather drab subject matter. When she makes a photo involving a human figure, she has to ensure that the subject is aware of being photographed. This is important as she thinks interaction between the subject and the photographer is an important element of the final image. The image would be very different if there is no linkage between the subject and the photographer. And she sometimes would spend a lot of time getting acquainted with the environment as well as the people before she ever considers to press the shutter button. I totally agree that one has to respect the subject matter of photography before one can create great images. Candid shots are rarely taken by chance! If you have read articles by Henri Cartier-Bresson explaining how he takes pictures with his Leicas, you know what I mean.
Becky finds it difficult to make images in Hong Kong as she has to worry about a lot of things here and there and simply cannot concentrate on the work. She counts herself very fortunate to have the understanding bosses who allow her to disappear from time to time for photo trips outside Hong Kong, when she can calm down and concentrate on making images, leaving her worries behind. Most of the pros I know also share the same view. The more you know about the place you were born, the fewer new things you can find as the main theme of your photographic works.
Becky, although based in Taiwan temporarily to pioneer the set up of a new branch there, will come back to Hong Kong from time to time to look after the regional photo stock house development in Hong Kong.
May I join members of HKIPP and her friends in the visual arts circle in wishing her all the successes in Taiwan, both in business and private.
CAPTIONS:

"The Bride"
Becky likes this image best as it can best represent her feeling at that particular moment when she pressed the shutter button.
"Chairman Mao on the Wall"
She took this in a barber shop in China, where all four walls were covered by the Chairman Mao posters. Becky finds it very challenging in painting the exact colour (in her mind) for the plastic hair curling rolls as the colour on the test strips might not be the same as on the real image.
"The Powder Room"
At a first glance, the colours (from her feeling) were not the same as the real colours (from her eyes) in this powder room. Before she pressed the shutter, she knew exactly what colours she had to hand-paint -- true to her feeling other than to the real life environment.
"The Haunted Back Stage of a Chinese Opera"
Ghost stories are often associated with the touring Chinese Opera companies. This image records her feeling when she first stepped into the back stage after hearing the ghost stories about the place.

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