An event entitled “Cheang Sai Keong Photography Exhibition” (鄭世強藝術攝影展) is showcasing award-winning photographs taken by Cheang between 1968 and 2021, at the UNESCO Centre of Macau in Nape until Monday.
The exhibition is organised by the Macau Photographers’ Federation (澳門攝影家聯盟).
Cheang visited The Macau Post Daily office for an interview last Thursday. Cheang revealed that he started to learn photography in 1968 from his brother. However, he stopped taking photos between 1978 and 2009 because of his business commitments. He picked up photography again in 2010 and is still at it.
Cheang told The Macau Post Daily that the “special” part about the exhibition is the difference in style and cameras that he used in the late 1960s to 1977 and 2010 to now. Moreover, his photographs show Macau’s development and changes throughout the years.
The exhibition displays nine black-and-white photographs taken from the 1960s to 1977, and about 80 photographs taken with a digital camera and even a smartphone, Cheang noted.
When asked by about his photo-taking style, Cheang stressed that he does not have a particular one. Instead, he said, his photographs are changing all the time and he likes to take all kinds of genres. Cheang said that from his black-and-white photographs, people can see Macau’s old or erstwhile streets as well as local events that no longer take place such as greyhound races at the (Yat Yuen) Canidrome Club (逸園賽狗場) and bullfighting.
Cheang told The Macau Post Daily that he spent one year learning how to use a digital camera, admitting that it was complicated at first as there were a lot of buttons and settings. However, Cheang said that he was later able to take better pictures of moving objects with is digital camera than a conventional one. Cheang underlined that a digital camera is able to catch moving objects accurately.
According to the exhibition brochure, Cheang is a bright and happy man – he has a supportive wife who has been assisting him all through the years in whatever she could do for him. The brochure includes a heartfelt note by Cheang in which he expressed his deep gratitude to his wife.
The exhibition runs until Monday at the UNESCO Centre of Macau at 403 Alameda Dr Carlos d’Assumpção. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free. The exhibition opened yesterday.
As part of the government’s COVID-19 epidemic prevention measures, all visitors entering the venue must wear a facemask, have their temperature checked and present a digital health declaration.
Cheang poses next to two of his artworks in his office in the city centre after last week’s interview. Photo: Camy Tam
Photo taken in 1969 shows bullfighting in Macau. Photos courtesy of Sherman Cheang Sai Keong.
Photo taken in 1972 - A man using a trap trolley to catch mudskippers off Zape (near where the Artysen Grand Lapa Hotel stands today).
Photo of mudskippers taken in 2020 on the waterfront near the Oriental Pearl roundabout in Areia Preta district.
Photo taken in 1969 in (Yat Yuen) Canidrome Club.
Photo taken in 2020.
Photo taken in 2018.
