Johan van der Keuken 2002 / To Sang Fotostudio / Netherlands 1997
The camera moves slowly through an Amsterdam street, the setting of this medium-length documentary whose covert theme is the relationship between photography and film. To Sang Fotostudio isn’t a film comparing the strengths of photographic and film media – it is much more about their hidden coexistence.
The camera moves slowly through an Amsterdam street, the setting of this medium-length documentary which seeks to unveil the relationship between photography and film. The street is home to small businesses owned by immigrants from Suriname, China, Pakistan and Turkey. Their lives are captured by director Van der Keuken as their paths cross with Chinese photographer Li To Sang, who runs a small photographic studio with his wife. Immigrants from the neighbouring shops visit his studio to have their portrait taken. While the photographic master To Sang stages his portrait scenes to the last detail with the clear-cut vision of a true artist, the manipulation of the film direction, however, is less conspicuous. To Sang Fotostudio is not a film comparing the strengths of different media – photography and film; it is much more about their unseen coexistence.
32 min / Black & white, 16 mm
Director Johan van der Keuken
/ Screenplay Johan van der Keuken
/ Dir. of Photography Johan van der Keuken
/ Editor Barbara Hin, Johan van der Keuken
/ Producer Frank Scheffer
/ Production Allegri Film
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