Frank Lei passed away on 18 May 2022. He left behind a vast body of work in the medium of photography, little known to the general public. With the help of his family, close friends and in particular Alan Ieong Chon Weng, one of the founders of Dialect – a photographic group and platform dedicated to exploring the infinite possibilities of photography and bringing a new impact in photography to Macau through various forms of exhibition – we were able to bring to light a very specific series of Frank’s documentary photographs from his 1992 trip to Cuba.  Today, Cuba is still a far-flung country with a controversial political system, but one can still imagine its cultural uniqueness and richness through trademark products such as music, cigars and the lifestyle popularised by the award-winning 1999 film Buena Vista Social Club.

Frank, Lei Ioi Fan (1962-2022)

Frank Lei is a veteran photographer and artist from Macau, and the former Art Director of Old Ladies House Art Space (later known as Ox Warehouse).

Born in Beijing, he came to Macau at the age of ten. He majored in journalism at university and worked as a reporter for the Macau Daily News after graduation. He fell in love with French New Wave cinema and decided to go to Paris to pursue his dream.

He was admitted to the Université de Paris III, where he received a bachelor’s degree in Cinema and Video in 1990. In the same year, he was admitted to ENSAD (École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris), where he studied photography.

In 1991, he won the first prize in the International Photography Competition “Life on the Street” organized by the Musée de la Photographie (France), his works were exhibited at the Grand Palais in Paris and are in the permanent collection of the Musée de la Photographie. In 1992, he travelled to Cuba for art projects, where he waved his hand to Castro, and then he graduated in 1993 and returned to Macau to teach at the Polytechnic Institute and Ecole Supérieure des Arts (Macau).

Cinema, photography, music and literature were his lifelong passions, and soon after his return to Macau, he embraced Buddhism and led a simple and vegetarian lifestyle. He held numerous solo and group exhibitions in France, Macau and Hong Kong. In 1995, he founded the art group Comuna de Pedra de Macau. In 2001, Stone Commune moved into the Old Ladies House and set up the Old Ladies House Art Space, with Frank as the Artistic Director. Later, Santa Casa da Misericórdia took back the Old Ladies House and they moved to Ox Warehouse to continue their operation, which was later renamed as Ox Warehouse.

In 2004, he was found to be suffering from brain cancer. After treatment, he resumed teaching in Polytechnic Institute and working in Ox Warehouse and began to draw extensively during his recovery. In 2006, he published the photography anthology Walking and Watching by Pin to Livros. He continues to take photographs and paintings, organizing solo exhibitions and small painting exhibitions, as well as traveling to New York, Korea and France for exchanges and photo exhibitions. In early 2017, he was invited to Strasbourg art photography in France for a photography exhibition and exchange. In May of 2017, brain cancer recurrence and he passed away on 18 May 2022.

Revisiting Frank Lei’s Cuba

Cuba, as the subject of Frank Lei’s early documentary photographic series, holds an extremely important place in his artistic career. In 1992, he traveled to Cuba for the first time, with his journey covering not only the capital Havana but also extending to Santiago de Cuba in the most eastern part of the island, demonstrating his deep attention and exploration of Cuban culture and people. Ten years later, he launched an exhibition and a photobook both titled “Cuba Cuba”, selecting works shot on colour slide film as the core of narrative, presenting a vibrant and lively impression of the island.

However, within Frank’s Cuba archives, besides this colourful slide collection, lies a set of previously unseen black-and-white photographs. These monochrome images capture the daily life and emotions of the Cuban people with a more subtle and restrained perspective. More than twenty years after the “Cuba Cuba” exhibition became a classic, these never before exhibited black and white photos act like a new window through the folds of time and space, allowing us to reimagine the scenery of the island that deeply captivated Frank’s soul and the unseen side of his Cuba journey that was never shown before.

-Alan Ieong

Cuba, Cuba

When Frank went to Cuba, he was still studying in France.

Frank in Paris was someone who never seemed to tire. Every day was filled with studying, working on projects, part-time jobs, dating, and married life. There was always a book or a copy of Pariscope—published every Wednesday—in the pocket of his coat. He was majoring in photography but often spent his time in cinemas. He watched Godard’s films and went with me to see Pina Bausch’s performances, speaking words that were half-understood, half-mysterious.

For a while, he only went out after midnight, carrying his camera bag in a secretive way, saying he was working on his graduation project. At that time, he even converted a tiny space next to the kitchen in their home into a darkroom. Most of the Cuba photos we saw were probably developed in that very simple little darkroom. He enjoyed the complete solitude of developing photos—alone in total darkness, with a little music playing, he could forget the whole world.

It was this energetic, always-enthusiastic person who excitedly announced he had gotten the chance to go to Cuba. That must have been shortly after the end of the Cold War? I remember one night we watched a tiny TV and saw many Germans hammering away at the Berlin Wall, people wildly waving flags and shouting in the streets, staying up all night.

It was in that era, and just by chance in Paris, that he encountered Cuba.
“Cuba, Cuba”—he muttered this phrase all day long, unable to hide his joy. He never tired of talking about this place. Perhaps because of that, even though I had never been there, I developed my own literary imagination about Cuba. I believed Cuba held wonderful things that could not exist in a materialistic capitalist society. It was the Cuba of the left wing, the Cuba with amazing music, the Cuba where old people never seemed old, Wim Wenders’ Cuba… Frank’s Cuba. Cuba might forever be a sun-drenched place in his heart.

This time, Alan carefully selected many Cuba photos we had never seen before, all of the people Frank met there. In these people, he must have found something that confirmed his inner thoughts, something that resonated with his spirit, which is why he raised his camera and took their pictures.

Though we can no longer listen to his long-winded talks about “Cuba, Cuba,” perhaps through these photos, we can carefully piece together the Frank who encountered Cuba back then.

Sponsor: Cultural Development Fund of the Macao SAR