FANG TONG - EXPOSURE INTERNATIONAL OPEN CALL

I am a cinematic style photographer, as a spectator of life. My works are embedded with an implied narrative, which is left to the viewer to resolve over time with their own imagination. Reflecting my background in classical art, the photography is carefully planned to control the frame and the expression of details, giving my work an ethos of a painter. As a bystander, I capture the potential that photography can embody pieces with an eternal quality, thereby creating a slightly fictional world that resembles reality but transcends consciousness. My passion is for my work to border on the surreal, yet hold back enough to keep it firmly in the real world. My photos provoke audiences to create a narrative out of cinematic pictures. There may be no clearly defined story behind the scene, but there is a strong mood and atmosphere throughout the whole image. The imaginary world is strangely familiar while the narrative arc takes audiences on a hyper-visual ride through people's subconsciousness. I nurture the balance between the real and the surreal that pulls my audiences into the world I created, but I also allow the audience to discover their own answers.

In this series Sometimes I remember events that never happened I added more surreal elements. Just like its title appears, there is a paradoxical meaning. The imaginary world is strangely familiar while the narrative arc takes audiences on a hyper-visual ride through people's sub-consciousness.  I think it is interesting to break photography, which is a very realistic art form, to create a world that looks similar to reality, but is on the edge of surrealism, to embody something deep in people's minds.

BIOGRAPHY

Fang Tong is a fine art photographer based in Vancouver Canada. She has been awarded several major international photography awards. She has been published in Canadian and international magazines such as Yishu, VOGUE, The Globe and Mail, The Georgia Straight and the other major domestic and foreign magazines. Fang Tong won the first prize in the Nikon International Photography Competition in 2015. She had an interview with Canada Broadcasting Corporation CBC Arts in 2019. Fang Tong had solo and group shows in different cities, such as Paris, Italy, London, Shanghai, Vancouver.