Ming - Portrait Paper Cutting

So as I was coming home from the city, around 10:30 tonight I ended up in the Union Square stop to catch the L train home.  Walking towards the platform and passing many street performers (a band playing upstairs, one man on the guitar on the L train platform), I noticed a crowd between the stairs heading up to the the uptown and downtown R trains.  I thought it was another performer and wasn't going to stop but then did a double take as I saw it was a man sitting on a chair.

At first I thought he was selling DVDs, but then I saw that he was selling portraits of people.  Not just the typical portraits you see, and not even the characature portraits that you see all over the city (especially Central Park).  This man, Ming ... had a black piece of paper about 4 or 5 inches square, folded it in half, then started to just cut and cut and cut. 

I was intrigued and wanted to see what he was doing, he struck up a conversation with me telling me that he can redo the guy he just did a portrait for just by his memory.  So he had the paper folded up ... and I he told me that it's $10 for the portrait and takes about 5 minutes.  Well sign me up!

He made me stand in front of him while he had that folder black sheet of paper.  He would look up at me, then cut, and the process would repeat for the next 3 or 4 minutes.  A crowd started to form, and I started to get embarassed.  He cut and cut away as we chit chatted, and he told me that he has been doing this for 50 years ... and he was 59 years old.  So you do the math and he's been doing this since he was 9 years old!  He said he learned it from his art teacher, and now he's teaching it too.  During the winter he does this in the subway, and in the spring and summer he does it on Prince + Broadway. 

I couldn't tell how the face was coming along, but then he even gave me a nice tie since I was wearing a tie from work.  We exchanged some more conversation and then he started to work on my hair.  Before you know it, he unfolds it and shows it to me and the rest of the people, there was a round of applause! 

He gave me the portrait and I was a bit surprised as I was expecting a "real life" portrait, but forgot that it was a characature portrait.  So I look fat in the portrait ... but then again, I do need to lose some weight!  He even gave me a double chin!

There was a couple after me, and I ended up staying to watch him work again.  I ended up video taping him and them for you to view below (I didn't finish the video as I ran out of memory).  Also below is a comparison to me and the portrait that he gave me.

I think this man is quite skilled and very good at what he does!  The damage was $20 total as I gave him a $10 tip for his skills.  Definitely an artist and I hope to see him again maybe with some friends and family who would also get their portrait cut out of paper!  Ming ... simply amazing what he can do with a pair of scissors and a piece of paper.  He actually teaches this ...

+ mon

Comments

[cat]

you spoke to him chinese? i didnt know you spoke chinese!