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We are proud to announce our PhotoMalaysia featured photographer of the month
- March 2012 -
eyedear - aka - Teh Young-Son
Here is the interview with him:
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hi there my name is Teh Young-Sun(aka eyedear). I would like to thank Photomalaysia for selecting me as their featured photographer.
Well I was born in Kelantan but grew up in Penang. Photography is currently my full time job and I have a studio in Penang and Kuala Lumpur.
Although I photograph everything under the sun from landscape to people to still life my real passion is in Nude Photography. It has taken some time for me to discover that i have the knack to craft a photograph of a person not wearing anything at all and showing the beauty of the human form be it male or emale. Every nude image of mine from the pose, to the light, to the composition is crafted from my ideas of how i want them to be.
Q: What is your photography history?
I was bitten by the photography bug at the age of 10. Initially it was more about gear than photography. I was also fortunate to have a family that was open about nudity as my father had many photography magazines around the house that show quite a lot of nudity. Most of the nudity were tastefully done not the cheesy sleazy type. You can see this in my images. As i grew and became exposed to all the aspect of photography. The art part became a more important aspect to gear. In my teenage years the darkroom was almost like a second home where i spend hours in it enjoying the solitude of the darkness and seeing your images magically appear in the developer. In my latter teens years I went to Singapore to study. In that open environment, i had the opportunity to learn about photographers like Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Richard Avedon and others. Even artist like Dali and HR Giger inspired me to look at photography from an artistic point of view.
My first camera was the Canon EX-ee I think most people don't even know of it haha. My second camera was the Nikon FM a fully manual camera where you had to adjust everything. it stayed with me for almost a decade. Then i change system again this time to Minolta 700si. When the digital era came. The Olympus C3020 became my first digital camera. and finally the Canons became my workhorse from the EOS 300D, then the EOS 5D and now the EOS 5D Mark 2.
This may sound a bit corny but the subject that i love to photograph the most is Women not girls. It has taken me many years to be able to say that with pride.
Q: Can you describe your photography style?
I would say my style is all about light. I use light to sculpt, create depth and to create emotion. I am a minimalist preferring simple background to messy ones. I always pre-visualize my final image and meter and shoot accurately.
I pose in an eccentric yet aesthetically pleasing way. My Women portraits are always elegance and sexy. My male portrait makes my men look like real men.
I have some very weird rituals too. I don't like to wear shoes when i shoot. I love to be barefoot when i shoot. If i have to wear shoes my favorite footwear is a Pair of ASADI Slippers. Another weird ritual is I am at my best when i shoot portraits in total silence. with no music at all.
Q: Any advise for aspiring PhotoMalaysia members?
In this digital age photography has become so easy. but i still think that one must learn the craft properly in order to excel in it. Shooting under or over and using the computer to rescue your images will never give you the best possible images that you can get if you shoot it accurately.
Cheap storage have also make us a bit more lazy to shoot properly but instead of just machine gunning and hoping you have good shot. in the 3 years that i have my 5D mark 2 I think i have only set it to continuous mode for only not more than 5 times. A 4 hour portrait session of mine i would only have around 200 images with almost 50 images that would be consider to be good shots.
For those who is interested in portraits, observing people are a skill that is very important. by observing how people sit, stand, move, emote and etc. you will be able to craft your own poses that is not so common. By observing you will understand the ergonomics and dynamics of the human body thus allowing you to push the human body beyond its limits.
Lastly love the photography. Its always the photography, its not about what gear you use, how much fame you get. why do i say this. Imagine you have all the gear that you ever wanted and everybody love your work and knows you. After that what will drive you to make a better image that what you have now.
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