To Sang Fotostudio

Johan van der Keuken
Netherlands, 1997, 35 mins.

Producer: Frank Scheffer
Screenwriter/Director of Photography: Johan van der Keuken
Editors Barbara Hin, Johan van der Keuken.

Johan van der Keuken's work has always explored the relationship between photography and film while creating a world that reveals the magical moments of everyday life and the rich complexity of individual's lives. In this delightful short he takes as his subject the immigrant Chinese portrait photographer To Sang. We watch as To Sang "directs," with an air of confidence and precision, a series of portraits of var-ious clients, all of whom work on the same street. Using the language of gentle persuasion and gestures, To Sang and van der Keuken create an intimate portrait of a culturally diverse neighborhood while underscoring the fluidity of the bound-aries between image and reality. - Deena Juras