Macau is 'So distant, until it's not' at Flash Photographic Festival

One of the hallmarks of the Flash Photographic Festival is its "Bring Your Own Venue (BYOV)" element that allows audiences to encounter photography in unlikely places. The exhibit on display at X-Cues Cafe and Lounge in Winnipeg’s West End takes things a step further by taking the viewer to an unlikely place. 

So distant, until it’s not is the name of the exhibition by Michael Veith that explores the city of Macau off the southern coast of China. Veith, who has lived in Winnipeg for over a decade, grew up in Macau as the son of Mennonite missionaries, and captured the exhibit’s images on a recent trip back to the city that is, for all intents and purposes, his hometown. 

“Reflecting back on it, I think I was spoiled as a kid growing up,” Veith said, reflecting on his exposure to such a beautiful city in an interview on Morning Light. 

A former colony of Portugal, Macau exists at the intersection of colonial European and Chinese cultural elements and is now one of the largest hubs for entertainment and gambling in the world. While the city has become rapidly more modern since Veith’s childhood, he’s still able to see the historical beauty. “You see a Catholic church and you turn a corner right there and you see a Chinese temple. It’s that coming together of the two worlds all in a very small spot.” 

“You don’t even need to think. You just point your camera and you get a really cool, interesting photo.” 

For Veith, the show’s title is both a representation of the interesting city, but also of his changing relationship with it. He points out that he’s lived in Winnipeg nearly as long as he’s lived in Macau, and as he introduces people to the city with his photography, he conversely is becoming less and less familiar with it as it continues its more modern evolutions.

“It’s not as familiar as I want it to be,” he explains, a feeling that he had even as he returned to the city and captured the photos on display. “There’s like a positive side, like a really joyful [feeling] of being there and experiencing everything, but also, there’s something that’s not.” 

“I think that’s the case for any person who maybe grows up somewhere else and then moves and then kind of settles and makes their new home somewhere else.” 

So distant, until it’s not will be on display at X-Cues Cafe and Lounge on Sargent Avenue in Winnipeg’s West End until May 6. More information can be found at the Flash Photographic Festival's website.