Beon by John Clang
September 28th, 2009 Yanda
Some of you here are familiar with my friendship with Beon while some are not. I met Beon when we were both serving the armed forces in 1991. He had a very pessimistic view of life and a strong inferiority complex. Though we’re both Capricorns, we have very different personalities as I tend to be more motivated to make my life exciting.
Beon enjoys writing Chinese pop songs, but it’s hard to make a living being a songwriter in Singapore. In order to make ends meet, his father taught him how to mend shoes and they both based themselves on the sidewalk of one of Singapore’s busiest streets – Orchard Road. It’s a major tourist attraction as well as a popular retail and entertainment hub.
A ‘roadside’ cobbler is a dying trade, more commonly done by elderly men. No young man wants to be seen repairing shoes on the streets nowadays. Beon attracted curious stares from pedestrians and that made him extremely uncomfortable. He kept his head low and dare not interact with people. At times he despised himself and felt unworthy. I tried to encourage him to think positive and that one day his experience and talent will take him on a path that he’ll enjoy.
Very soon, I started doing art projects with him as my subject. I wanted to immerse him in an art environment and become the hero of my lenses. I hope that I can bring back his confidence and help him fight his own demon.
I approached my friend, Johnny Khoo, who is a very influential stylist and suggested we do a project together. We got our support instantly from Grace Lee, Editor-in-Chief of Nuyou magazine. She understood the concept and agreed to fly top model, Jessie Leong, into Singapore to be the model next to Beon.
My idea was to photograph Beon next to a top model. I want him to be seen by the general public, and at the same time, for him to see himself through my eyes. I want this piece of art to appear in a magazine format viewed by the mass audience, not just in gallery, seen by the interested few.
This process proved to be very rocky in the beginning. Some advertisers wanted to pull their advertisements after seeing this project and seeing their clothes on Beon. Grace nearly lost her job for supporting my vision and till now, I’m still very grateful to her. However, when the readers saw the story, they were touched and charmed. Many of them wrote to the magazine to show their support and expressed how they felt. It became a success and everyone was happy.
Shortly after, I was approached by an art curator, Michelle Lim, to have my first Singapore solo show at Jendela Gallery/The Esplanade. I immediately knew that the show has to be about Beon and not about my other artwork. This is another opportunity to put Beon on a pedestal, raise his self esteem and have him face the world in a courageous manner.
I even decided to call this show ‘Clang. A Self Portrait’. It is about me projecting myself, my confidence onto my best friend. Everyone will think that the images are portraits of myself. And that was my intention, as it allowed me to be BEON briefly, while Beon be CLANG.
About a month before the show opening, Beon sincerely asked me why am I doing this for him. His relatives were concerned that I might be making good profits and did not share with him. Though I was happy that he told me his concern so honestly, I was pretty hurt. Not only was the show not for sale, I had to personally fund it to make it happen.
The opening was a great success. Beon and his family were all there basking in the limelight. I could see from the eyes of his father that he is very proud of his son. It was a huge turnout at the opening. Many have wanted to come to meet me, to see my show. In fact, many people went up to him to congratulate him for a successful show, thinking that he’s CLANG. I told him to acknowledge all these greetings. I think he truly enjoyed being the star of the night and I’m glad. All these created a very impressive & memorable scene for Beon and his family.
The magazine story and the exhibition received a lot of media attention for Beon. The Television Corporation of Singapore, did a documentary on him, describing his life as a street cobbler and songwriter. Beon instantly became well known and many people recognized him. They walked up to him, congratulated and chatted with him. The new Beon, a confident Beon started to raise his head and face the pedestrians and interact with them charmingly.
The media coverage about him were extended to China and Taiwan. And very soon, he has friends from everywhere. He now loves his life and believes in what he is doing, working as a cobbler by day, songwriting by night. He starts to know that he is not ugly, he has charm and talent that few people have. Most importantly, he has led an interesting and different life.
Shortly after, Beon met a girl from Taiwan, who strongly believes in him after reading his story through my work and the TV interview. Candy was a lab assistant in a local university. They fell in love and she moved to Singapore to marry him. She had no problem working alongside him on the street, even though she’s a university graduate. Beon never thought he would ever find love, but things have changed dramatically for the better.
Recently, they both relocated to Taiwan and are making interesting leather goods which garnered them quite a huge following. Beon is one step nearer to his songwriting dream and enjoys working together with his wonderful wife. You can find out more about him and his work at http://www.leatherprince.etsy.com
I am very happy to witness how my art has changed a man’s life.
http://www.facebook.com/johnclang
http://www.johnclang.com
September 29th, 2009 at 4:10 am
Nice story
September 29th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
[...] amazing John Clang is? I can totally identify with the photographing process of his latest work, Beon. He’s gonna critique our 4-page spread this week, and I’m psyched. Leave a Comment [...]
September 30th, 2009 at 2:39 am
This man deserves an award.
I’ve seen these spreads a while back and simply thought they’re beautiful images. I’m amazed that his photography played such a fundamental role in his friend’s metamorphosis. I’d like to applaud him.
Oeuvre, this isn’t Clang’s recent work, though his work is ofttimes timeless.
September 30th, 2009 at 4:53 am
There’s always a BEON within every CLANG and every CLANG within a BEON. It is only going matter who is going to reveal whom first.
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Thanks for all the comments and wonderful insights. Btw, does anyone knows which NU YOU issue does that belong to?
August 5th, 2010 at 12:01 am
I do. March 2002 : )