Framed Landscape Photograph by Don Hong Oai

A framed photograph by Chinese American photographer Don Hong-Oai (1929-2004) "The Intimate Shadow", a composed landscape photograph taken in Quilin, the world-famous scenic area in China. Signed with title, inscription of location and dated on the top -left, red sealed on the lower right corner and signed and dated 1982 lower left on the mat. The photograph depicts an idyllic scenery on Li-river with the karst peak in the misty background, where a fishing boat floats. The work was created with dark room manipulation to echo the traditional chines ink painting that showcase a surreal ambience. The photograph is housed in the original artist's archive metal frame with an old print of the artist's bio and copyright mark on the back. It was purchased directly from the artist's studio. Sight Approximately 13.625" w x 10.125" h.
Don Hong-Oai was born in Canton, China but raised and educated in Saigon, Vietnam. At age 13 he began an apprenticeship at a Chinese photo and portrait shop. In 1979 he immigrated to the United States and settled in the Chinatown of San Francisco.
Don began making a living by selling his landscape photographs in front of Macy’s and began to receive recognition for his craftsmanship. His style was heavily influenced by the legendary photographer Long Chin-San and his technique of layering negatives for ideal composition, by taking three negatives, foreground, middle ground, and far ground, and selecting a subject from each negative. The photographs of Don Hong-Oai are made in a unique style, which can be considered Asian pictorialism. This method of adapting a Western art for Eastern purposes probably originated in the 1940s in Hong Kong. One of its best-known practitioners was the great master Long Chin-San (who died in the 1990s at the age of 104) with whom Don Hong-Oai studied. With the delicate beauty and traditional motifs of Chinese painting (birds, boats, mountains, etc.) in mind, photographers of this school used more than one negative to create a beautiful picture, often using visual allegories. Realism was not a goal. Don Hong-Oai was one of the last photographers to work in this manner. He is also arguably the best. He has won hundreds of awards given by photography societies throughout Asia and by international juries of Kodak and Nikon.