Featured Photographer #51: Chung Hsiao Chen
Where did you meet photography or where did photography meet you? I think it’s when I had my part time job at college, the workplace was a very beautiful little garden, people came to have a couple of cups of coffee and many photographers liked to do photo shoots there. I was attracted to the magical sound of the camera shutter so I got my first Nikon FM2.
Since then I learn how to take photos, I mean techniques and theories. I didn’t really feel photography at that period of time until I started to travel, the world makes me wonder how to pour my feeling into a flat picture, and I am still learning now.
What do you do when you don’t have a camera in your hand? I won’t let that happen. :) I can not imagine I don’t have my camera in hand when I am travelling, they are like twins, camera and travelling.
What do you want to achieve? I love to record my friends, especially those who travel with me. People usually see themselves to much, I rather capture faces and emotions around me. Even though I am not in the frame, I can still feel my existence outside the frame through their eyes.
What’s in your camera bag? I don’t shoot everyday, I am not a professional photographer, just a person who loves to soak in the light. I have a LOMO camera, a Polaroid SX-70, a Leica M8 and a Nikon FM2. They are all in use, I choose digital mostly, they are instant and cheap, but sometimes I need films to remind me how traditional photography is.
Ansel Adams or Annie Lebowitz or Martin Parr or Alec Soth? Alex Webb, David Alan Harvey, Maria Plotnikova and Kawashima Kotori.
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