See from Within

Cora Si Wun Cheng has devoted herself in photography for many years. As far as I know, she has always worked with professional photographic equipment for her productions. Meanwhile, she also loves to use manual film cameras for particular works. The rough texture of tiny particles on the film always fascinates her. In order to show the essence of photographic image, Cora would take the people she meet and the things she do in her daily life as a theme, and connect them to the world and see them in fresh eyes through pinhole camera.

In this smartphone era, everyone is becoming a photographer and each day we can find ourselves feeling overwhelmed by the images of every move that is too carefully calculated and the overused post-production effects. Yet, when you look at Cora’s latest works ‘See’, you would find a contrast, a feeling of purity, simplicity, and cleanliness, as well as a reminder of the very notion of photography.

In my opinions, this exhibition compels you to look beyond the photographic works and think more of its abstract concepts from within. Cora refuses to rely on the visual language most people use in common – neither using optical lenses to revise the image nor adjusting the contrast of image through filters. Her work – as a result of the composition with instinct, the reflection of light, and the dynamic layers of colours – just simply projects how human eyes perceive the world with most original and rustic images.

Jumping out of the box and getting rid of predesigned and post-production effects, Cora’s work shows a quality of naturalness that captivates us all. In the mainstream view of photography, overexposure, overlapping shape, blurriness, color deviation and other defects are unacceptable. Whereas those graphic defects transcend themselves and become a poetic pulse in the ‘See’. Intriguingly, her work leads us to re-experience what colours, lines and light are about in photography.

Prior to curating this exhibition, I was a bit puzzled as I was neither familiar with pinhole image nor certain who would find it interesting to see what Cora had gone through in her journey of photography. However, having said that, I do observe that Cora has taken a brave leap of faith – she stops replying her long-acquired skills and previous experience, but apply experimental techniques to capture the best moments of her life. Cora’s sincere invitation to her inner world offers us a news perspective of what life could have been.

Curator
Joey Ho