#melbournephotography

Photography: Have you heard of the Lions? 

I would like to share some of my photography works. Dance Lion is also my topic for a zine design (which would be posted soon). For a better visual presentation, fortunately, I successfully borrowed a Southern Lion custome. 

'Have you heard of the Lion?' is created to raise people's awareness of a traditional art heritage originated from Guangzhou, China - the Lion Dance. 

This group of work aims at capturing the beauty of Lion Dance and the fact that it was being forgotten and losing once in order to raise the awareness of people nowadays to pay more attention to traditional art. 

What are you trying to show through the photographs?

This art performance started since the Tang Dynasty in ancient China in order to protect people from a monster called 'Nian' when in Spring Festival. As time went by, the Lion Dance has already become a culture unity of good wishes and Chinese Spring Festival across Asia. 

However, because of commercialisation and industrialisation, this heritage was losing at a time because it is time and energy costed. Fortunately, it is such a comfort that the new generation is paying attention to some old and traditional culture such as the Lion Dance. Many creatives produce video, interview or photographs of some traditional culture. A large group of industrial, graphic or fashion designers are inspired by the Dancing Lion. This traditional heritage from our ancestors are promoted in the commercialised market and embrace with the nowadays world.  

The photographs look really colourful, does your colour palette represent something?

Yes. I am a big fan of playing around with colours either for my design work or photography. Regarding this project, lion Dance and Chinese Spring Festival related elements and colour are utilised in this project. Additionally, through some flexible pose of the model, the beauty of this dance should be conveyed more effectively.

 Another point to mention is the colour applied in this project. To show how this traditional art melts into the contemporary art world, a more contradictory colour combination is applied. The visions are striking and playful. 

Special thanks to the team:

Model: Zishuo Liu

HMUA: Luna