Chinese Street Opera - The Art of Lao Sai Tao Yuan

• Photographer
  Robin Yong
• Agency / Studio
  The Art of Travel Medicine

Chinese Street Opera - The Art of Lao Sai Tao Yuan is an ongoing documentary series that I am doing. Lao Sai Tao Yuan is Singapore's oldest Chinese (Teochew) Street Opera troupe, with a 153 year old history. Characterised by brightly coloured costumes, a mobile wooden box like stage, distinct make-up and loud music composed of gongs and symbols, they used to be extremely popular up till the early 70s. Today, the trade is a dying art with few young performers and even fewer audiences. Performances are getting rare - usually only during temple festivities where they play to largely empty crowds.

Robin Yong is a multi-award winning Travel Photographer. He enjoys traveling to exotic destinations to befriend and photograph the locals. He is best known for his work on the Omo Valley tribes in Ethiopia, the Venetian Masked models in Venice, the Bokator boxers of Cambodia and the Maikos of Kyoto. He calls these works his Travel Portraits, his Art of Travel Medicine. For most of his works, he does not use flash, reflectors or artificial lighting, depending solely on natural lighting alone. The photos are often dramatic, colourful and extremely beautiful.