The Art of Regret- Ethnographic Film on Photography and the Digital Revolution in Kunming, China.

http://www.berkeleymedia.com/catalog/berkeleymedia/films/arts_humanities/the_art_of_regret

In relate to the photography conference at the British Museum this weekend, the RAI has been screening a series of films on a Tuesday evening, most of which I have missed due to work. The final film was entitled 'The Art of Regret', by Judith Mac Dougall, an American ethnographic film maker, and was of special interest to anyone who had lived in China, or had an interest in photography.

The scene is clearly set- bill boards, focus on the future, and technology everywhere, Kunming reminds me a great deal of atmosphere of Chongqing, the Chinese city I lived in for a year. Mac Dougall asks, 'What do people want from photography? Beauty, truth, memories or money?'.  

The film follows the digital revolution, and how this is impacting how photography is viewed, whether it is a medium to preserve the truth of the past, or whether it is a means to enhance ones good qualities and hide the flaws through digital retouching.

The art of regret is how photography is known in Kunming, China. As a photographer points out on film, no picture is perfect, there are always imperfections you will look back and regret. The film maker and her translator visit a photography exhibition and interview the photographer about his art. For the photographer, photography captures the 'truth' reality before it fades away, in a way that painting or drawing can not hope to match.

The eternal feeling of regret, is especially true for traditional photography, but much less true for modern day where it is possible to reverse the signs of ageing at the touch of a button, and all people can be made more beautiful.

In the opinion of the 'profession photographers and retouchers', ordinary people are only capable of taking 'ordinary pictures', of their everyday life. If someone wants something 'special', produced with technical and aesthetic skill, the customer has to go to one of the many professional photography studios in Kunming. The majority of people go to have the lost youths recaptured, they can take 'real' pictures of themselves at home.

There was some fascinating commentary on the Cultural Revolution and how when everyone in China was wearing plain clothing, people would dress up in ethnic clothing whenever they had the chance. Later on we see young men posing for their photograph in military uniforms, and scenes are interspersed with a band singing communist songs.

The film ended with this very wonderful scene of a young boy getting upset at the retouching of his picture being retouched. He started crying and shouting, 'bu yao', 'not want', in English, at the purposeful manipulation of his image.