Hin Chua's Magnetic North

Ok kids, I’ve gone and set up a mailing list to keep you in the personal one-to-one (ok, one-to-many) loop in case of future interesting Hin Chua-related announcements? Why? Because future interesting Hin Chua-related announcements are pending.

So sign up here!

Before I arrived in Beijing, there was a period of a couple of days where I was feeling extremely apprehensive about returning to China. I had last visited Shanghai at the end of 2007, when my process of working was far less disciplined (it was almost completely free-form to be honest: turn up at a random location, walk around for several hours without any map or any idea I where I was going and then try to find my way back home). Since then, my practice has evolved considerably in terms of research: mapping of locations via Google Maps, utilising Street View for reconnaissance and plotting an appropriate path with suitable end point (so that I didn’t have to return home the way I came).

Read more

I’ve procrastinated. I’ve debated the subject. I’ve agonised. But finally, I’m decided. Writing my last post was what prompted me to finally do it: I’ve resolved to sell as many of my cameras as I’ve can. 

Maybe it’s because I’ve managed to convince myself they’re irreplaceable, but I’ve always hung on to most of my cameras for an unnaturally long period. When I’m out photographing, when I stumble across some scenes in the field, I’m almost terrified to depart because of the knowledge that more often than not, I’ll never return to that particular rat-arsed corner of the world. 

Similarly, letting go of a camera represents to me the closing of a chapter. Once my Hexar RF departs, I’m quite certain I’ll never use another one ever again. It’s not like they’re a particular iteration of the latest wunderplastic DSLRs; I’ve never had any kind of attachment to any of the ubiquitous digital Canons I’ve ever owned. But the cameras and lenses listed below are very much more unique. 

Regardless though, clinging on to these objects doesn’t change the fact that I don’t use them anymore and that’s more than a little criminal given how nice they are. Besides, I swore to myself that I would never become a camera hoarder, or worse yet, a collector!

Read more

One of the things I’ve been doing a lot more of in the last couple of years has been talking about photography. I’ve always respected artists who have been able to talk eloquently about their work and spin an interesting story around their photographs. One occasionally feels the urge to call bullshit, but I’ll excuse most implausible justifications for making photographs if they’re at least clever or entertaining. Especially when you’ve experienced the painful counterpoint: the poor individual who struggles to contribute more than a couple of semi-meaningful sentences about their work.

Read more

A New Years’ resolution for 2011 has been to write more about myself, for myself. I’m not talking about your run-of-the-mill “personal press releases” designed to convince people how talented and wonderful I am (because hell, that’s stating the blooming obvious isn’t it?)

Instead, I want to perforate the impenetrable veneer of the professional artist, to discuss some of what goes on behind the scenes and to talk honestly and truthfully about my practice, its challenges and some of the moments of pure joy or terror that I often experience. Uncertainty is such a critical conceptual and practical component the way I make images, and I want to try better communicate that in textual form.

I’m not overly concerned about writing to build an audience or a brand and I’m under no illusions that anyone other than myself may be interested in this. But that’s the point: I need to hold myself accountable, I need to remind myself what I’ve accomplished and what still needs to be done.

Roll on 2011!

If you happen to be in Kaunas, Lithuania over the next week, you’ll undoubtedly stumble across the Kaunas Photography Festival. Over the course of several nights, they’ll be showing a series of Photography Duels where selected photographers from competing countries will be pitted against each other in a battle to the finish (or more likely, gentle applause).

Read more

Last month, Neil Burgess (a former head of Magnum and current head honcho of NB Pictures) caused a bit of a stir when he declared the death of photojournalism.

As Burgess himself mentions, people have been writing about the end of photojournalism for decades. Reading his piece reminded me of my favourite article on this subject.

Read more