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Wah Fong photo studio was a household name at George Town, Penang, in the 1960s and the 1970s. It was popular among local urban dwellers and received the occasional patronage from regional celebrities. Much of its fame was due to Mr Yip Wai Kong (1928–2014), who took over the business from his father, Mr Yip Ho Nam. Like many Chinese migrants who left home due to hardship, Mr Yip’s father came to Malaya from the Nanhai district of Guangdong province, China, at the age of 13 to work as a photo studio apprentice. He eventually acquired Wah Fong’s business in the late 1930s and settled down in George Town. Before the business was handed over to his son in the 1960s, Wah Fong was mainly servicing social organisations, such as the clan and hawker associations, in addition to the usual individual and family portrait commissions. As a young adult, Mr Yip showed natural talent in the studio and later developed his skills as a retoucher, hand-colourist and photographer. In addition to being an accomplished photographer, Mr Yip was also a gifted wedding gown designer, make-up artist and occasional impresario for bridal fashion shows. He was multi-talented and sociable, which helped to expand the studio’s clientele, making him one of the most sought-after photographers in town.
To stay competitive in the industry, Wah Fong introduced longer business hours from 9 am to 9 pm daily, terming it as ‘day’ and ‘night’ services. Photos in the day service were usually taken with diffused sunlight as the primary light source, which produced a natural tone and fewer shadows, while photos taken in the evening used flash photography to deliver dramatic shots with harsher shadows. A typical day at Wah Fong would commence with customers coming in to have their portraits taken for official documentation, followed by individual and family portraits, and would finally end with the clients who required more privacy.
In 2013, George Town World Heritage Incorporated initiated an oral history documentation project on the history of Chulia Street during the postwar period of 1945 to 1970. As one of the residents, Mr Yip was interviewed and apart from describing various occasions when his photo studio was swamped with fans who tried to catch a glimpse of itinerant celebrities, he also discussed the political changes and social happenings during that period. These included his recollections of how the whole city was under lockdown during the Japanese Occupation, the inflation of goods, tension amongst the secret societies over the distribution of territory for the collection of protection money, how the census was conducted, his experience of witnessing people being beaten up during the May 13, 1969 riots from his shop window upstairs, and the various processions that passed through his street during festive celebrations.
More interestingly, the interview also revealed Mr Yip’s observations on lesser-known photographic practices by the “outliers” of society, such as the sex workers and mistresses. He also explained how the Nyonya ladies subsumed photographic technology into their daily life experiences.
Back in the 50s, the walls of Wah Fong studio’s reception area were decorated with charming portraits of women before they were replaced by celebrity portraits. These half-body portraits, which featured splendid dresses, belonged to the sex workers from the hotels or brothels along Chulia Street. Two of the more popular hotels were Yeng Keng and Nam Wah, which were known for their courtesan quartet line-up. The top four most requested sex workers had a ‘stage name’ that incorporated part of the hotel name as a way to direct customers to the right place. There was a Madam at Yeng Keng who recruited girls for sex work while those at Nam Wah were freelancers. Like the celebrities who produced portraits as memorabilia to help expand their fan base, sex workers made portraits to increase their clientele, which doubled as tart cards. Instead of distributing the portraits freely on the street, these sex workers found an ingenious way of advertising their services without alarming the law enforcement: rickshaw pullers became their agents. While ferrying customers around town, the rickshaw pullers distributed their portraits to customers who might be in need of an intimate connection. This incentivised the rickshaw puller, as he earned a commission for every successful match.
The complete package of wedding photography these days consists of pre-wedding and wedding ceremony photos. The former, usually taken before the wedding ceremony, may feature a selection of scenic locations or lavish hotels while the latter, taken during the actual event, showcase candid moments through a photojournalistic lens. However, from the 1950s to the 1970s, wedding photos during Mr Yip’s time were regarded as supporting documents to the official wedding certificate. Unlike the increased popularity of pre-wedding photography in recent times, a couple could only have their wedding portrait taken at a photo studio after they had exchanged vows. Formal wedding photos usually featured full-body shots of the newly-wedded standing adjacent to each other with minimal body contact. Their eyes looked placid, as they focused their gaze into the camera with an air of ceremonial importance. The photo would then be printed in bulk and distributed during the wedding ceremony to family and friends for remembrance and to testify that the couple had officially engaged in a matrimonial relationship. Mr Yip also highlighted the unconventional wedding photos, such as the ‘Fake Wedding Photo’, in which the mistress would pose as a bride.
These portraits were normally taken at night to avoid being discovered by the wife. It is unclear whether the lone ‘bride’ was photographed alone or with her ‘husband’. In the same way in which wedding portraits were used as matrimonial evidence by the wife to prevent possible disputes over the estate or property of the husband, these portraits taken by the mistresses were a way to leverage for future financial security. The wedding photo, whether fake or authentic, was not only useful to wives and mistresses. There had been incidents when a wife decided to take refuge with her parents after problems with her in-laws; her husband would then use the wedding photo to ‘claim’ back his runaway wife.
Other than the highly-valued Peranakan family portraits that one might find in the local flea market and antique shops, there was also the illusionary Nyonya portrait called the Luck Changing portrait, another ritual highlighted by Mr Yip. In the 1950s and 1960s, during the Chongyang Festival on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, affluent Nyonyas would go to the photo studios to have their portraits taken. According to the I Ching (an ancient Chinese divination text), the combination of the day and month (both featuring the number ‘9’) is believed to be a potentially unstable number pairing. This is why some choose to follow certain customary rites to prevent unnecessary mishaps.
On the day itself, the Nyonyas would dress up in their kebaya and opt for pulled rickshaws as their mode of transport to avoid car accidents. In order to stay away from the prying eyes of the public, they would only put on their kerongsang and other finery once they had arrived at the photo studio. What made this portrait making session unique was the absence of a negative or the photographic print. For the Nyonyas, it was about the process of being photographed rather than the outcome of the photo. As they sat poised and looked straight into the camera, they waited for the sharp burst of light generated by the flashbulb when the shutter was released. That moment concluded the luck-changing ritual, which was believed to eliminate any ill-fortune and perhaps simultaneously recharge the gemstones that they wore with a renewed energy. This could be seen as a transmutation of a customary ritual that was influenced by the photographic technology of that time. It is similar to the ‘Chinese stove fire crossing ritual’, normally performed when one is being discharged from hospital, released from prison or returning home from a cemetery visit, as a way to get rid of evil spirits and bad luck. Instead of using the stove fire, the ‘Luck Changing portrait’ was achieved using the light released by electronic heat through a flashbulb.
As George Town transitioned from a colonial entrepot to a modern town in the early 20th century, photo studios adapted their services to cater to the increasingly sophisticated needs of its clientele. The different clients who patronised Wah Fong reflected how the city transformed, on a daily basis, from a bustling town to a place to unwind after work by offering various forms of entertainment and pleasure. The dynamics of the city is exemplified by the spatial design of the typical two-storey colonial shophouse, which served both as a commercial shopfront and a private residence, like Wah Fong studio. The long business hours of Wah Fong allowed George Town residents of different background to get their portraits taken during the ‘day’ and ‘night’. From the sex workers’ enterprising way of promoting their businesses, the official and informal use of wedding photos, as well as the invisible portraits of Nyonya ladies, these stories complicate the narrative of photographs of the past. Without knowing the intention and motivation, these seemingly straightforward portraits of beguiling women and lone brides can be as deceiving as the narrow front of the shophouse in George Town. Only by venturing in can one truly experience the labyrinthine depth of its interior make-up.