Citizens who took photos there gave them thumbs up, and a hearing-impaired couple opened a "silent photo studio" on this street in Shanghai
When an important day comes, many people will choose to go into a photo studio to record the beautiful moments with lenses and leave precious memories. Therefore, the photo studio is often filled with laughter and a lively atmosphere. However, there is a "silent photo studio" on Shihua Street in the suburbs of Shanghai. There is no sound of conversation, only the "click" of the shutter and the satisfied smiles of customers.
It turns out that behind this special photo studio is a hearing-impaired couple, who are both the owners and photographers. ID photos, literary portraits, spring outdoor shots... They carefully record every beauty every day, use their lenses to tell the silent love and tenderness, and also create a different kind of photography world.
Silent photographer, using light and shadow to convey beauty and emotion
At the intersection of Mengshan Road and Long'an Road in Jinshan District, a photo studio called "Moran" Studio is located in an inconspicuous corner on the second floor. When you enter the door, you can see that the decoration in the store is simple but very warm. Not only are customer samples posted on the wall, but there is also a calligraphy work of "Continuous Improvement" hanging on the wall.
In the studio, photographer Shen Jinhui is busy taking ID photos for the elderly in the community. Unlike other photographers, Shen Jinhui rarely uses words to communicate. Instead, he uses his unique movement demonstrations to guide the elderly in the most natural and appropriate shooting postures.
Shen Jinhui and his wife Zhou Lan are a hearing-impaired couple. Shen Jinhui was born in 1992. His hearing was damaged due to accidental improper medication when he was young. He only retained weak hearing and partial pronunciation functions. Zhou Lan, who was born in 1994, also suffered from hearing loss when he was young. Faced with the difficulties, they did not give up on themselves, but used a positive attitude to study photography technology, hoping to leave perfect images for every customer.
Aunt Zhang, a resident who had just completed the shooting, looked at the photos on the computer and said with satisfaction: "At the beginning, I was worried that there would be communication problems, but after the shooting, I found that the young man's communication skills are still acceptable. The shooting was great."
Photography seems easy and casual, but in fact it requires rich skills and careful preparation. Mr. and Mrs. Shen Jinhui, who suffers from hearing impairment, do not have particularly accurate pronunciation when speaking. In order to ensure smoother communication with customers during the shooting process, they will try their best to use simple movements that customers can understand to guide them in posing. Or use sign language and mouth shapes to convey your meaning.
When encountering communication needs that are more complex or difficult to express with actions, he will choose to use mobile phone software to convert the recording into text to ensure the accurate transmission of information.
"Although he speaks slowly and his tone is not very normal, and he relies more on movements when guiding everyone, we can all understand what he means. Moreover, I just saw the photos he took, and they are very good." Customer Zhu Auntie said.
The camera opens the way to entrepreneurship, and perseverance sharpens the mind
For ordinary people, the road to entrepreneurship is not easy, but for Shen Jinhui, this road is even more bumpy.
Tracing back to his original intention of starting a business, we have to start from a year ago. At that time, Shen Jinhui was still working quietly in a design company in the urban area. At that time, he already had 7 years of experience in editing pictures. However, it was there that he met a colleague who had a profound impact on him.
The former colleague was a photographer. By chance, Shen Jinhui discovered that his lighting and shadows were not handled well. Out of good intentions, he reminded the other person. Unexpectedly, he was ridiculed by his colleagues: "You are deaf. You only know how to retouch pictures. How can you understand photography?" This unintentional remark was like a sharp thorn, piercing deeply into Shen Jinhui's heart.
However, Shen Jinhui was not defeated by these words. On the contrary, it became his motivation to move forward. He secretly made up his mind to prove his strength. So he began to buy a large number of photography books and study photography techniques in depth. And his mother gave him the greatest support and gave him a camera worth nearly 30,000 yuan, hoping that he could go further on the road of photography.
"When I received the camera, I was very excited. I studied it all night. I also studied the functions of each button on the camera with my friends. I thought that I would take good pictures in the future and thank my mother for her support and help."
After unremitting efforts, Shen Jinhui resigned from his original photo editing job in November 2023 and chose to return to Jinshan to open his own photo studio. In order to support his dream, his wife Zhou Lan also gave up her design job in the urban area and assisted him in doing makeup for clients and styling them before shooting.
Faced with hearing impairment, Shen Jinhui never felt inferior. On the contrary, he has a firm belief in his heart: "I want to prove to everyone that we are not different. Because I have rich work experience, photography has given me a broader space to develop."
Every effort deserves to be seen and every effort deserves to be respected
With the help of relatives and friends, the photography shop obtained preferential rent. Since its opening, customers have mainly come from referrals from friends. Shen Jinhui knows that this is only the first step in a long journey of thousands of miles. How to maintain and operate requires continuous study, thinking and adjustment.
However, this also puts pressure on him who is optimistic by nature and has always been confident in his photography skills: "Although I have my own photography skills, after taking photos for the first time, I still care more about the customer's satisfaction and dissatisfaction. If you want to do better, you need to continue to innovate and change.”
However, Shen Jinhui, who has experience as a disabled sprinter, quickly turned pressure into motivation.
With the popularity of the film and television drama "Flowers" some time ago, he keenly captured this hot spot and immediately began to study the tonal scene layout that fit the film and television drama. Huang Xuelian, a citizen who came here to take the "Flowers" series of photos, said: "I have found confidence. I used to not want to take pictures, and I would hide when they were taking pictures. Now, when I take pictures here and see their finished products, I suddenly I gained confidence. They were honest and cheerful people, and I quickly got to know them when I came in to take photos.”
The continuous positive feedback from customers has also given the young couple a lot of confidence. Recently, they have successively received business for outdoor shooting of spring scenery in the area. They are full of confidence and smug about the future of photography shops.
"We don't want people to pity us because of our hearing impairment. We hope that every customer who comes to take photos can appreciate our work and their own beauty from the bottom of their hearts. This is why we continue to be in business. Motivation." His wife Zhou Lan said with a smile.
Shen Jinhui told us, "The four inscriptions 'Self-improvement' were given to us by a calligrapher. Although we have some obstacles in hearing and communication, we also hope that like normal people, we can work hard and never stop. stop."
