Freeze The Moments - Akimoto Chan's Film Stills Exhibition
“Rewind” and “Fast Forward” are two important buttons when playing films on the recorder. Inspired by this, two series of short-term exhibitions are organized in the exhibition hall on the 3rd floor here in Cinematheque・Passion, named “Rewind Macao” and “Looking Forward”. The former focuses on local themes, while the latter draws inspiration from avant-garde works from other places. They complement each other and are closely related, which symbolize to ‘stand in Macao’ and ‘look at the world’.
The first exhibition of the “Rewind Macao” series emphases on reviewing local film practitioners in different positions. The production of a film requires the cooperation of everyone in the front and behind the scenes. In the development of Macao's film industry, it always relied on the continuous enthusiasm of the people who stays behind to silently support each local film. Please refer to the photos on the right side, the moment of the crew members sedately holding the clapperboard, which reveals the denotation of them supporting the film industry together.
The first exhibition of “Rewind Macao” series is “Freeze the Moments – Akimoto Chan Film Stills Exhibition”. The first sight of a film of the public, or the audience's initial impression of it, is often derived from stills. The exhibition covers Chan's stills works from different periods, also includes the moments of before and after shooting, giving you a glimpse of Macao films while experiencing the professional skills of stills’ energy and development.
Introduction of Akimoto Chan
Akimoto Chan, known to Macau peers as “Ah Pao” (Cantonese Pronunciation, means: Leopard). Since becoming a photographer, “Akimoto” officially represents his photographer's avatar, and the name pays homage to his inspired Japanese photographers.
When Chan was in middle school, he began to shoot randomly around, sowed the seeds of interest of photography. Then he applied for the major of Advertisement in the university as he misunderstood that it was related to photography, sooner he turned to read and study many photography books and attend different exhibitions, constantly shuttled between city corners to take street shots. Later, Chan joined the promotion team of the university drama club, he naturally raised his camera and used photos to capture the moment of his club member, burying the opportunity to become the still photographer of “Macau Stories 3” later.
Chan confessed that he didn't understand what a “still photographer” was at first, his passion of photography pushed him continued to explore more in this profession by looking through different stills and posters. Even though he was not experienced, and even was scolded by the staff often for blocking the lens on the shooting site. After working for a series of short films, music videos and theaters, in 2016, the opportunity to shoot stills for the film “ Sisterhood” was ushered in - and since then his identity of a still photographer has truly been recognized and his professional started officially.
From working in a small crew of the independent short films, to then involved in the over-sea shooting with hundreds of people, Chan has been engaged in his profession for ten years. He has been through the era of using the special sound extinguishing boxes, to the later the introduction of silent shutters. Still photographers have never been a popular career in film industry, and are not even considered as a mainstream position in crew. However, they witness the flow and alteration of time with light and shadow and use the most unique way to deeply connected with Macao films throughout all these years.