Intel Visual Life - Kitty & Lala, 80 Impression

80 Impression illustrates the diverse, personal, and emotional role that technology plays in the everyday Visual Life of two young Chinese wedding photographers - Kitty and Lala.

Hangzhou-based wedding photographers Kitty and Lala are featured in Amsterdam Worldwide's short film production for Intel's new Visual Life campaign. [Photo: courtesy of Amsterdam Worldwide]

China's 80s generation has grown up saturated in blogs, mobile phone technology and thirsting for visual entertainment. They want creativity, they want innovativation. This permeates every aspect of modern Chinese culture even down to the most basic cultural components including marriage.

Both born in 1985, Hangzhou based photographers Cai Ying and Chen Xiang, known as Kitty and Lala, are revamping the concept of traditional Chinese wedding photography. They represent part of Intel's Visual Life Campaign focused on bloggers who spread novel visual culture to the world.

Andrea Hunt has more:

Traditional wedding photos of Chinese brides poised in crimson 'qipao' dresses don’t have the same allure with China’s new generation. So, Kitty and Lala started "80 Impression," a fresh kind of sassy, unique wedding photography that would attract attention both from within China and abroad.

Beijinger Mu Yu is a marketing strategist whose target demographic is this young, professional generation of Chinese. She says this generation respects tradition yet feels the need to distinguish itself.

"When they take pictures for the wedding, they want a photographer more of the same age, maybe the 1980s generation too, because the photographer would know what style they want. For example, maybe they want to take a picture in the hutong or in some other traditional places. It can represent them because they are Chinese and they were born in a hutong, except that they may want to make it really fashionable, really young, and fresh because that represents them at a young age."

Twenty-four year-old Qiu Qian from Shandong Province is part of this new generation. She laments that frequently, options for creative wedding photos are limited.

"Actually, most of the shops just take the photos in the same place and they have the same idea. I think, for me, I'd like the background to be unique. It'd better be someplace relating to me and my memories."

Five years ago in Hangzhou, Kitty and Lala noticed this lack of diversity in wedding photography in China and saw an opportunity to create a more expressive and artistic concept.

Kitty explains that even though neither one knew anything about running a business, they started their '80 Impression' studio. Now, they are only twenty six, but have been able to create a new and vibrant niche which they share online.

"I think the 80s generation has their ideas and those ideas are simple: they don't want others to define them. I believe the reason why we are so well received is because my team and our customers have a lot in common."

Both Kitty and Lala have backgrounds in artistic drawing, which Kitty suggests gives them a different approach to photography.

"Photography differs from drawing in that photographers typically reflect and grasp the scene which they've prearranged. We try to adapt using the models, costumes, props, shooting settings and other factors."

The photo is the canvas, the lovers are a passionate illustration, and the lenses of the camera are the brushstrokes. The photos resemble something seemingly out of a fashion magazine instead of a wedding album.

Couples pose in costumes from other time periods or movie themes. They hold a variety of odd props and the backgrounds are as diverse as the couples themselves. Kitty says their visual expression comes from a medley of assorted elements.

"We use some traditional Chinese elements or concepts like the Qipao dress, or small bridges over a flowing stream. Hangzhou has a specific culture of South China. So, we take advantage of the location and mix it with modern concepts such as American pop art from the 60s and 70s and other means of expression. We reflect that through color, composition, models' poses, hairstyle and costumes."

All of their photography is posted on their blog which Kitty describes as displaying the happiness of life and marriage. They did not expect this would catch the attention of Intel Corporation, whose new Visual Life campaign targeted bloggers.

"I was really quite shocked when I received their call because I was thinking to myself, "Why us?" But they told us they had found about 30 to 40 people in China, all of whom are artists, painters, architects, fashion designers, etc..Their jobs should be international and require computers and internet to work. They probably found us more attractive in our field is also something new to show people abroad."

Several months later, they were the subjects of a seven minute short film.

As the world looks to China to see what the new generation is thinking, saying, and doing, these two are blogging the marriages of a multi-faceted China. Instead of taking the staunch 'out with the old' approach, two wedding photographers have decided to respect tradition, while giving it a bit of a makeover.

For CRI, I'm Andrea Hunt.