HONEST. Advocate: Victor Chen

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Victor Chen

Victor Chen, originally from Taiwan, has developed a passion to capture various moments, feelings and enthusiasm of people through his experience from traveling around the world.

He is taking advantage of his adept and wide perspective skills to project his creativity through his New York based photographs focusing on fashion, portraiture, and other documentaries. His adventurous yet attentive personality has granted him the privilege to notice details in nature and beauty that people often overlook around them. 

Victor believes that through his unique and stylized work, he is able to deliver and share the remarkable and momentous moments of his life to his viewers while inspire them to recognize positive virtues and changes people can make through the lens of his camera.

Currently attending Parsons the New School of Design majoring in Design and Technology, he is constantly obtaining knowledge to enrich both his personal and professional career in photography and film.

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HONEST. Advocate: Soi Park

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SOI PARK - Where Are We Going?

2010 - Las Vegas, Nevada
4x5 large-format film camera

A native of Korea, Soi Park received a BA in Visual Information Design at Ewha Women's University in Seoul, Korea before earning her BFA at SUNY / Purchase College in New York.

She holds a MFA from the Yale School of Art where she was also awarded the Alice Kimball English Traveling Fellowship.

2009 - Mashantucket, Connecticut
4x5 large-format film camera

“I often find myself in transient places, waiting for people to share those moments of awe and wonder, or silence.
My persistence act of taking pictures might remains a fundamental question of human being and surrounding.

However, I believe that photographs itself surpasses of my intention.”
— Soi Park

2010 - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
4x5 large-format film camera

Soi Park has been featured in Art Chicago NEXT 2011, New Insight by the Renaissance Society, and Spectra 2010 by Silvermine Art Center.

Since 2011, she has exhibited widely - Including a solo exhibition at the CUE foundation in 2013. This year she has been awarded an Engaging Artist Residency from the Mort Art, New York, NY.  

Website

HONEST Advocate: Johams Leguisamo

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Johams Leguisamo

On the top. November 2013 - Panama 

Johams Leguisamo is from Panama City, where he works as graphic designer - but on weekends it's a different story: He tries to go out of the city to new places as often possible, where he gets inspiration for new projects. Johams started shooting film in 2009 with a toy camera and since then he has not stopped, it's second his nature now! When he goes skating with friends or travels around the country, his camera is  always with him - as well as some film rolls.

Cameras & Films Johams uses: Seagull 4a-103 and Fuji GW690ii || Kodak Portra 400 and Ilford HP5+

Los cajones. February 2015 - Panama 

Los cajones. February 2015 - Panama 

“It is the best feeling in the world!
Shooting and not knowing what will be the outcome of it, cause it does not matter how much effort you put into getting the best out of your frames.
Film will always make it look even better!
It’s always Christmas when I get my negatives back.”
— Johams Leguisamo on why he chooses analogue photography.

La Fortuna. February 2015 - Costa Rica 

Johams's work was shown in London, Rome and Panama as well as published in books and magazines in Australia, Mexico and Guatemala. Future projects will include a set of nude people in landscape with his 6x9 camera. We are excited to see more of his work!

Portfolio || Blog || Instagram

HONEST. Advocate: Jakob Maul

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Jakob Maul

Budapest, Hungary 2013
Nikon F501, 50mm f/1.8 Tri-X 400

Jakob Maul is a 26 year old photographer from Vienna, Austria. He is no stranger to our HONEST. Tribe as he has filmed our videos and took our team photos! Here we want to show you the analogue side of his work. 
Jakob is mostly a portrait photographer, his favourite cameras are the Mamiya RZ 67 (with a 110mm f/2.8 lens) and the Yashica Electro 35 GSN.
 

Vienna, Austria 2013
Nikon F501, 50mm f/1.8 Tri-X 400

“People feel less intimidated when being photographed with an old camera.
I don’t know if they take you less seriously or if it’s just a moment of adoration for the beautiful camera, but I feel like people open up way quicker and more easily when they’re being photographed with an analogue camera.”
— Jakob Maul

Bratislava, Slovakia 2013
Nikon F501, 50mm f/1.8 Kodak Tri-X 400

Jakob grew up almost exclusively with digital and just began to explore analogue photography a couple of years ago. Analogue photography (despite being the older technique) is a new field for Jakob. A field he considers his playground, where he can experiment and explore more, because for him, a film camera is easier to handle.

Right now Jakob is working on a (digital) project about Burma. He was there for a month and really wants to go back to continue his project, probably taking his Yashica with him! 

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HONEST. Advocate: Vai Yu Law

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VAI YU LAW

Iceland - September 2014
Camera: Nikon FM2 ||  Film: Vista 200 / Vista 40 

Vai Yu Law is a fashion, portrait and travel photographer based in Toronto, Canada. She has been shooting professionally for 4 years.

Vai loves the colours, the mood, the grain and the rawness that analogue photography gives to photographs. During her trip to Europe, she wanted to remember the moment she took a photograph so she chose her Nikon FM2. 
Because it takes a few extra more seconds to capture a moment in film Vai feels that analogues are more memorable and that a story is attached to each picture. 

Iceland - September 2014
Camera: Nikon FM2 ||  Film: Vista 200 / Vista 40 

“Iceland. I had grown interest in Iceland mainly through the influence of a band I adore, Sigur Ros.
I had dream of visiting there but never did, until last year in September.

In 2014, it was a pretty un-inspiring year for me as a photographer. Many things around me seemed tedious, and I felt my life was monotonous. The harder I sought out for inspiration, the further away I was from producing work that would make me happy.
I felt lost and I essentially wanted to leave Toronto, to go somewhere, anywhere. I booked my flight two months before flying, not realizing what I was doing to be honest. Was this the right time? I was going to be away for a month. ”
— Vai Yu Law

Iceland - September 2014
Camera: Nikon FM2 ||  Film: Vista 200 / Vista 40 

“I was extremely busy up until the day of my flight. I still wasn’t sure what I was doing. I was unprepared and all I booked was a hostel in Reykavik, Iceland.
I planned most of my trip while I was on the plane. I was planning on travelling England, Spain, France and Denmark (but I made changes and went to Austria instead of Denmark), as well.

My trip changed me.
I found myself, again.
Once I had stepped foot on Iceland soil, my heart was filled with excitement. I felt I had made the right decision. Iceland is such a beautiful country and I know many people would agree. I wandered around a lot, finding beauty walking on silent streets in an unknown territory. The feeling of bliss trickled through my entire body. I felt revived, refreshed and ready to explore the world, and importantly, learn about myself again.
There’s never a right time to stop learning about oneself.
Always be true to yourself, go with your gut feeling and time wouldn’t be a factor when you’re living fully in the moment. ”
— Vai Yu Law

Iceland - September 2014
Camera: Nikon FM2 ||  Film: Vista 200 / Vista 40 

Via Yu Law's but next analogue project will be shooting a lingerie and portrait editorial story.

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