August 30, 2004 - This week, we interview Eu Hin Chua from Ancient Imagery of the Future:

Please tell us a little about yourself:
My full name is Eu Hin Chua. For simplicity's sake, everyone calls me Hin (so with surname, "Hin Chua"). Despite being just three characters, in any Western society it's still prone to extreme mangling. I'm 29 years old, I was born in Malaysia and migrated to Perth, Australia in 1990. Like many other photobloggers, I'm a software developer; I write enterprise software for banks. For the last few years, I've been on a self-appointed quest to become a well rounded Renaissance man (a pursuit of the arts, literature, music and fashion). Photography has been a key component of that quest. Just a few days ago, someone assumed I was an English Literature arts major. From a quest perspective, that was an extremely gratifying moment!

A renaissance man indeed. Do you remember the first time you grabbed a camera?
This is an interesting question. The first time I picked up a camera (Nikon CoolPix 4500) in anger was a couple of years ago, when I was 27. I put it down a few hours later and never touched it for another year. I had told myself that I need to do something artistic, but the very act of buying the camera seemed to drain the very inspiration from me. That, technically, was my first time.

My actual loss of photographic virginity would have occurred around May 2003; the guilt of leaving my camera rotting in a cupboard for a year finally got the better of me. To be honest, I've only felt reasonably comfortable with a camera since about March 2004. Photography is actually the first sort of visual art that I've ever been involved in, and I've pretty much learned it in a vacuum (completely self-taught).

What aspects of photography do you like?
I'm fascinated with patterns. For the last few years, I'd find myself walking around and 'see' a pattern and think to myself, "that should bloody well be captured!" I enjoy extracting abstract patterns from an urban environment (witness my fascination for lamp posts). At the same time, I think photography gives me an outlet to convey my sense of humour. I love finding the bizarre and surreal in every day life. Oh, and I also find that women seem to respond better to men with cameras than men with, say, Nintendo GameBoy's. If only it hadn't taken me 29 years to realize this...

So obviously videogames are a passion. Any others?
Computer geekery, (the listening of) music, (the reading of) literature, (the watching of) movies, (the viewing of) art.

What's been your most memorable photographic experience?
To borrow from Cartier-Bresson, capturing the decisive moment. Noticing something and just nailing the shot; it's an incredible high. From an actual personal experience, the day I realized that I was not longer (or less) afraid of taking photographs of strangers in the street, without a big telephoto lens.

What tips can you give to those who are still afraid?
I learned a lot from Petteri Sulonen's articles, "Shooting the Street" and "Telephoto is for Cowards". A few general observations: Bring a non-intimidating camera (e.g. not a Canon 1DS or 1D Mark 2). Don't use a big telephoto lens (barring exceptional circumstances, I've never seen a good telephoto street shot that I've liked. Head shots don't count). Don't be shifty. Act like you belong there. Of course, it's a bit easier for me; in pretty much any part of the world, an Oriental guy with a camera gets ignored after a while. Smile and don't be afraid to have conversations with people (flirting often helps, if you can get away with it). Take your time. Observe, camp out at a particular location or just randomly stroll. Relax, and have fun. Practice makes perfect.

Do you have any negative experience that stands out?
Missing a shot because I didn't have a camera or because I was too busy fiddling around with it. Before that, being too afraid to take a shot. I used to torment up about the latter: "Hin, you are such a cowardly wuss... if you were a real photographer you'd have gone back and photographed those bikers beating up that restaurant owner!"

So are you more of a street photographer, or what is your style?
My preference is for urban environments. As I've mentioned, I like abstract and strange patterns and quirky, funny scenes. So, urban architecture and street photography, with a twist. My approach is usually the Expedition. Load up a bag with equipment on the weekend and go walking around a part of the city for a couple of hours. Meander around, without a fixed plan. Stop, start, peer, run, chase and observe. Then capture. I've tried carrying around a camera with me during weekdays, but I often feel overly confined. I need to be in a certain frame of mind to shoot the best shots, and having just 30 minutes during your lunch break isn't the most conducive to that mentality.

Some find urban shooting difficult. What is the best thing you like about this style?
Because I've realized that the style is the best way of taking advantage of my (perceived) strengths... the slightly odd way I look at the world. Above all, I'm seeking to capture memorable images. These things often need to be discovered in strange corners of civilization. I am (unfortunately) rather strident about the things I'm not after in photography; stuff I would term 'boring'. This includes (and no offense to other photographers):

1) Beautiful boring landscapes fit only for corporate motivational posters.
2) Flower macros.
3) Furry mammals in zoos.
4) Telephoto snapshots of peoples' heads in the street.

That's sure to stir up some folks. On to another: Which is better, film or digital?
From a personal workflow perspective, I could only shoot digital. But I have a fascination for film and film cameras. I find that my favourite photographers shoot film almost exclusively. I adore the film look, and actively try to recreate it in digital form. Despite never having handled a film camera in my entire life, I have a bit of a fetish for rangefinders. I know that I could never justify a Leica M6/7, but the Voigtlander Bessa R2 is a constant temptation that will almost certainly be resisted (unfortunately).

From a purely technological perspective, it is inevitable that one day digital will achieve complete technological dominance over film (at least in the 35mm arena). It would be quite a sad day when that finally occurs.

So your favorite camera is a digital then?
I've only owned or used three, but it would have to be the Panasonic LC1 (the cheaper equivalent of the Leica Digilux 2). It's a beautiful, sensuous piece of equipment, and it sort of fulfils my film camera fetish, as it's pretty much the closet thing to an analogue camera in the digital world.

Why did you start a photoblog?
For the women? But seriously, to force myself to pick my favourite photos and publish them.

So did it start out as more of a portfolio than a photoblog? When did you make the transition and why?
All my photos are initially published to a portfolio and selective images transferred to the blog. A few of my friends had gotten into text blogs a few months ago; I wasn't interested in writing pages and pages of angsty, self-obsessed twaddle, so I thought that a photoblog would be an interesting compromise and counter-point. Things sort of snowballed from there. (even though most of my friends don't usually visit it any more!)

What's been the best thing about running your site?
The women (ha, if only that were true)? At a personal level, to see how my style has developed over the course of time. At a collective level, to appreciate that other people might enjoy my work. Or better yet, share my perspective of viewing the world. I've often succumbed to the temptation to think that no one understands me (in life). In photography at least, I'm glad to have been proven wrong on many occasions.

Well said. What have been the biggest problems?
The penis and Viagra comment spam. Realizing that my most frequent visitor is the Microsoft search engine. Oddly enough, though, unlike many other bloggers, I've always had a huge photo backlog, so I've never found running out of pictures to be a problem.

Has photography and photoblogging affected your life in any way?
It's forced me to slow down and appreciate the subtle things in everyday life. To find weirdness where it should not exist. To appreciate the art of composition in movies. Speaking of which, every aspiring photographer should go and see Terrence Malick's film, "Days of Heaven". The cinematography is so magnificent; you'll see a great photo every couple of minutes.

Obviously an inspiration. Any others?
To be honest, I haven't had a huge amount of time to study the pantheon of photographic greats. But, I'll break out some of the old favourites: Cartier Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Jacques-Henri Lartique, Sebastiao Salgado, and The Magnum photographers. I also recently discovered Elliott Erwitt. I think this is an area where a more formal study of photography would be beneficial for me.

From a photoblogging perspective, Todd Gross and Justin Ouellette. I find the greatest empathy in their approach to photography. Petteri Sulonen has had a significant influence in the sort of style I've tried consciously to avoid. I've learned more about photography than reading his articles than anything else.

Do you have a favorite photo?
Seriously, this is like asking me for my favourite song (or band). Having said that, at the moment: From a 'holy crap' perspective, Cartier-Bresson's Behind the Gare Saint Lazare. From a pure sense of humour perspective, Robert Doisneau's Bolides would be my favourite at the moment. I dig subtle, or not so subtle irony. I know, I've cheated, but surely your readers wouldn't mind looking at two great photos instead of one?

They won't mind. Back to photoblogs. What can make them better?
Diversity. Like the initial days of the Internet, we're a little top-heavy in terms of Anglo-Saxon 'first world' nations being represented. Also, a better means of exposure for those great sites that people haven't discovered yet (which is why what you're doing is a valuable service in my opinion). And of course, better photographers!

Can you explain more about other nations being represented?
I'm currently on holiday in Japan (Tokyo) and am just blown away by the urban photographic opportunities here. I'm currently in a phase where I'm "over" most New York photoblogs for the most part ("Oh look, a graffiti-covered wall... but wait, it's in New York, therefore it MUST be a great photograph! And look, ANOTHER graffiti-covered wall!"). I would be terribly excited if we could see more photoblogs from the Far East, South America and Africa.

Any improvements specifically on the sites themselves? You mentioned MS robots, penis spamming, etc.
The effort involved in configuration and setup could be intimidating for non-technical folk (find blog software, register a domain, find a web host, install blog software, configure photoblog layout). I'm thinking a TypePad-like service specifically targeted for the photoblog market (with easy layout configuration, comment spam protection and the like) could be quite a hit.

Take note developers... Anyway, are you involved in anything else photography-wise other than your photoblog?
Other than finding creative ways of humiliating my friends on camera, no.

Hey it counts. Any specific tips you can give to our readers?
To everyone reading this... get out there and take photos! Throw off the shackles of conformity and push yourself beyond your traditional photographic comfort zones. Do not be afraid of change, take risks. Furthermore, invest in a good pair of running shoes so that you can flee quickly! Read Mike Johnston's, "Eschew Cliche" and Petteri Sulonen's "Boring Photographs" articles.

Good words. Thanks a lot for the interview, and best of luck with your site Eu.
Once again, thanks for the effort Jessyel. Take care and I look forward to reading future interviews.