P-Town Logic: Interview with Little Shao – Hip-Hop Photographer

P-Town Logic: Interview with Little Shao – Hip-Hop Photographer

Can you share a little about yourself?

My name is Little Shao and I’m a French Photographer from Paris. I’m working a lot with dancers, models, actors, singers, and deejays, so I can say that my scope of people around me are mainly artists. My first step into the art world was in Dance as a Bboy in 1997. I’m a workaholic and don’t need a lot time to sleep for regenerating which is, I guess, due to my Vietnamese background. I made it into one of the most famous Business Schools in Paris, and started working in Finance, but 4 years after I decided to quit my job in Finance in order to work only as a photographer.

What are some of your current film/photography projects you’re working on?

There are so many; I travel all around the world in order to work with dance companies, and the most famous dance events of the underground dance culture. At the same time, I’m working on my next photography exhibition and trying for 2 or 3 months now to find the perfect combination for updating my website, which I haven’t upgraded for 2 years. I also try to find original ways of promoting crews, events and dancers through photography, which is really important according to me… So I’m working on a lot of different things, which has the same importance for me.

How big is the Hip-Hop scene in Paris, France?

The Hip-Hop scene in Paris is very, very big! People are training, battling, doing events, and performing all the time. In my view, Paris has the best hip-hop freestylers in the world, but when you have a look at the commercial scene, show/choreography for example, the level is very low… I would conclude that French dancers could have the characteristics of being good freestylers, but are really bad in choreography and shows, except the very few crews who are really making a difference.

Who’s your favorite dancer or dance crew?

My favorite dancer is Bboy Cloud (Daniel Campos).

What are some of the goals you have as a Hip-Hop Photographer? Filmmaker?

My goal is to innovate and push the Hip-Hop community to understand that “Communication & Marketing” should be much more important than their dance skillz. That if they want to survive being a dancer, they should also take care of their image and how they are spreading it. Life as a dancer is not only about dance, it’s also about strategy, communication and networking.

How did you get started in Hip-Hop Photography?

I started when I got serious about photography. As I was living as a Bboy, thinking as a Bboy, eating as Bboy, sleeping as a Bboy, and breathing as a Bboy it was my world, so working in Hip-Hop Photography was obvious. I was into Hip-Hop before thinking about doing photography even if though I really liked it. To tell you the story about why I really started doing photography is all because of dance. I couldn’t find the right photography, which could capture my dance movement properly, so I told myself that I would learn to do it. I can’t find someone who can take a picture of me dancing as I want and I can’t take a picture of myself, ahaha!

Where do you draw inspiration from when it comes to Filmmaking and Photography?

My inspiration comes from everywhere: movies, music, and from what I can see everyday. The only thing that I’m not doing in video or photography, is something that was already made. No biting!

Do you feel the dance world is lacking creativity and originality nowadays?

I don’t think there is a lack of creativity, cause there are so many crazy inventive and creative people. I just think that, too many things are posted for nothing, which makes the interesting things more difficult to find. The problem is that people are not looking for creativity and innovation, but they are looking for fame and numbers of clicks on YouTube. When you open your Facebook home page for example, you will see so many videos and photos that bring nothing more than what we’ve already seen, but hopefully sometimes you can see something very interesting.

Any general words of advice you like to give?

Keep doing your passion with love guys, because life is too short.