"Our aims in founding Flying Fish were to combine work and life and to take pleasure in sharing. Wedding photography is just a way to maintain a foundation for operating the museum." The words of Jimmy Li, who grew up in Pingtung County and, after graduating from vocational high school, started working in a large wedding photo studio where he eventually worked his way up to photographer, are echoed by Kelly Li, a Yunlin native whose specialty is image makeovers.
Four years ago, having tired of the profit orientation and formulaic norms of the mainstream wedding photo industry, these lovers boldly decided to take out a loan and start their own business in Tainan. The first year the two of them lived in a space of a mere 20 square meters that served as both home and office. They accepted all kinds of small jobs, and were so penniless that they had to take cold showers-which they say toughened up their determination-but they never deviated from adopting an attitude of "making friends" in dealing with customers. They devoted themselves to making newlyweds feel that every step in the wedding photo process (which can be routinized, tiring, and expensive) is in fact a dress rehearsal for "wedded bliss."
By last August, business was quite stable and they had grown to the point where Flying Fish was facing its third relocation. They set their sights on an old four-story apartment building with a broad courtyard on Minquan Road. After considerable effort, they finally persuaded the owner to accept rent of NT$40,000 per month instead of selling this 400-square-meter space. Both being adept at image planning, Jimmy and Kelly Li designed and oversaw the work personally. From the second floor up they laid out a showroom for wedding attire, a workshop, and a photo studio, while they extravagantly decided to leave the first floor (about 140 square meters) as a free-of-charge exhibition space, where they have held five shows so far.
Jimmy Li, who is a people person, says that he can't stand to see so many of his designer friends who have real talent "having to take any work that comes along just to feed themselves" for lack of support networks. "Their works show real strength, it's just that they lack any platform to show their work or people who know how to really appreciate it."
At the end of last year, with the unanimous agreement of its employees, Flying Fish unveiled another hot-blooded plan: To travel around the island during vacation days and take wedding pictures that will tell life stories of underprivileged people over 65 who did not have wedding photos taken when they were young-naturally all free of charge.
Kelly Li, a sensitive woman with a sweet smile, says that despite the fact that such public service activities are demanding of time and energy, they make one's own life more fulfilled and happy. Looking around her museum, she sighs: "The only regret is that we are all generally too busy to really take the time to enjoy this space for dreaming, curled up reading in a chair or lying in the courtyard soaking up the sun."
Newlyweds or just passers-by are all welcome to find bliss at Flying Fish! At right is a corner of the photo studio that deliberately preserves the old atmosphere of the aged building.
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