Photographer captures contrasts of Shenzhen

Published on October 29, 2008 by brooks | This story has been viewed 1,577 views

A FEW months after landing a job with a high-end furniture manufacturer in Shenzhen in 2005, Frenchman Vincent Assante Di Cupillo, then an engineer, decided to quit the job and become a full-time photographer after being convinced that Shenzhen provides lots of photo opportunities.

Cupillo, 32, from the French port city of Brest, uses his camera to aptly capture rich contrasts in Shenzhen, from the lives of the homeless to stylish upmarket housing estates.

Some of the highlights of his recent photo exhibition in Bao’an District included two series of documentary photos, featuring the Chinese tour of British transgender artist Mandy Romero and two homeless men in Shenzhen.

In February this year, Cupillo mingled with a group of homeless people in Luohu District, recording a day in the life of two homeless. In an upbeat note, one photo shows Xiao Li — who earned his living picking up bottles on the street — studying English in a bookstore. He spent three hours a day learning English in order to get a job with a decent salary.

Cupillo believes these photos provide good opportunities for people — who never have the time nor the willingness to talk to the homeless — to “communicate” with them.

These pictures of the bleak life under skyscrapers also explain why Cupillo regards Shenzhen as being rich in contrasts for photography. An award-winning series of photos features the sleek buildings near the Mangrove Nature Reserve, underlying the plush life and the city’s economic boom.

His photos of transsexuals are striking and intriguing. Cupillo documented Romero’s “action performances” in Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Macao and Shanghai for more than six weeks in 2007. In one picture, Romero dresses like Kwan-yin, the Goddess of Compassion and Mercy, as passers-by look on near a Buddhist temple in Shanghai. In a picture taken near the Shenzhen Railway Station, Romero “builds” a “garden” using leaves and stones she picked up on the way from her hotel. The exotic dress and “odd” performance contrast with the surroundings and the curious onlookers.

Another series presents Chinese transsexual performer Jin Xing rehearsing in Shenzhen Poly Theater in August this year. The motions, the lighting, the contrasts and the artistic ambience demonstrate Cupillo’s mastery of the art.

Cupillo’s picture collection, available on his Web site www.vadc-photo.com, also includes landscapes, portraits, macrophotography, art/conceptual and commercial photography.

To support his enthusiasm for the art, he shoots commercial photos for companies such as furniture manufacturers.

Yet humans remain his favorite subject. He is planning a new project that may portray residents in different districts of Shenzhen. Hopefully it will again enable him to share a certain kind of beauty with people. “Sharing is one of my inspirations of being a photographer,” said Cupillo, who is planning to hold a new exhibition at the Luohu Cultural Center in the coming months.

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