Pullfolio Showcase

Rush Hour, Tokyo

Ming Thein (photography.mingthein.com) is a photojournalist whose primary aim is to record the little moments in life that happen around him and hitherto go unnoticed. This includes the macro landscape we live in – and the micro one that plays a surprisingly important part in everyday life: time.

He is based in London and Kuala Lumpur, and is available for assignments via mingthein@gmail.com, and maintains additional work at www.mingthein.com

Yin and Yang, City Hall, London

Though a theoretical physicist by training, Ming picked up a camera at 18 and never looked back – despite having to take various corporate jobs to pay the bills. He started out shooting everything and anything, but eventually combined interests and specialised in wristwatches, then tried the challenge of wildlife. After a while, he found himself drawn to the humanistic: there are only so many photographs you can take of an inanimate object: but of people, the possibilities are infinite. Variations in behaviour, expression, moods – then multiply that by about six billion.

“Watching my little neighbourhood in downtown Kuala Lumpur change around me in barely a few years has driven me to document daily life around me. I feel the need to preserving the moment for posterity – not just so future generations can see how we lived, but also as a reminder for our generation of how far we’ve come.”

Today, he aims to apply his skills to a worthy cause – to give a face and voice to those who need it. To show the world things that are normally unseen – and to do it with the highest integrity and most arresting way possible. This is photojournalism.

After Taraweh prayers, Kelana Jaya, Kuala Lumpur

Q&A with Pullfolio:

How did you get started?
I’d always wanted to try photography, but being a student at the time, had to wait for digital to make it affordable. Then I shot everything and anything; I used to see compositions in my mind but be frustrated that I either didn’t have a camera, or later, couldn’t get it to turn out the way I wanted. The answer is practice, practice, and more practice! I’ve lost count of the number of shutters I busted along the way. Once you understand the basics, it’s much easier to then pick a genre/ topic and start running with it. I’m also a big fan of film: not so much for day to day work, but as a training ground that teaches you how to understand light and how to use it to create an emotion or a particular aesthetic.

Marketplace thespian, Kuala Lumpur

What work do you want to do, and why?
At the moment, I think it’s about time for a resurgence of good photojournalism: the style that’s intimate, emotional, and captures that decisive moment (to overquote HCB). It can be used not just for wire work, but there’s also a lot of potential in advertising and other media, if done correctly. And of course the dream of every photojournalist is to have their work picked up by an NGO and given carte blanche to report a cause as they see fit.

Swine flu protection, Hospital Melaka, Malaysia

What motivates you as a photographer – and do you have any idols in the photography world?
I guess it’s that feeling of satisfaction you get when things just come together for that perfect instant, which you manage to capture for your audience to subsequently appreciate later – in that moment, you managed to get everything right – composition, exposure, focus, tonality, etc. As for heroes – I wouldn’t call them idols – of course. If you look at enough images, there are just some that make you go ‘wow’. For me the number one guy has got to be Sebastio Salgado – his work is moving, powerful, emotional, yet aesthetically awesome. If I can produce a handful of images a year that hit those notes, I’m ecstatic – he’s got half a dozen books out with thousands of images like that. Aside from Salgado, I find there are actually a lot of great photographers on flickr etc which probably don’t get as much exposure as they should – their work is different and inspires you to experiment, which is the only way to grow as a photographer.

The scavenger, Canacona Beach, Goa

So show us your best image, and tell us why it is?
The shot above – I struggled with a name for a while, but decided on ‘The Scavenger’. I think it embodies the traits I mentioned above – it’s raw, aesthetically pleasing, emotional, atmospheric, and technically sound. But it also has a story behind it – I’ve got plenty of images I find aesthetically pleasing, but have no story. The truth behind this one is bittersweet; I shot it during a break at a society wedding on a beach in Goa; on one side you’ve got literally a six figure party going on, and on the other, people like this who are below the poverty line cleaning up behind the scenes and generally doing other things to ensure that everything happens as it should.

Cinematic, Royal Exchange, London

What do you plan to do in future?
I want to take photojournalism mainstream – maybe that’s a bit ambitious – but I think there’s a lot of potential to switch styles and have reportage style advertising, etc. that’s just not been done right now. I feel it’s more real and far less contrived than the super retouched images society aspires to these days. And of course there’s still the dream of being asked to cover a story for a major NGO. I’m also working hard to change the way I interact with the subject – the paradox is so far it’s been difficult for me to get close and have isolation (from a technical standpoint) whilst retaining context – I’m trying to get in closer, get more involved, and still maintain that background context in the shot. I’ll also keep shooting fine art street photojournalism to hone my preparedness skills.

The kiss, London underground

For the gearheads: what equipment do you use?
Can’t we just enjoy images without comparing equipment? LOL. Seriously though, the more you shoot, the realize gear doesn’t matter *provided it doesn’t hinder you*. I think it’s because eventually you understand how everything works at a deeper level, so you can work around weaknesses in equipment and use them as strengths – for example, the huge depth of field on compacts is great for making very compressed telephoto landscapes, which you can’t do with an SLR because you’d have to stop down to far to get everything in focus. I’ve been through quite a number of equipment changes – started with a Fuji superzoom thing, then used a whole slew of Nikons – the F2, D2H and D3 were my favourites – the former two taught me how to shoot, and the last one let me do literally anything. Ultimately I decided portability and stealth were important, especially for photojournalism and capturing natural emotion – big cameras tend to change the way subjects react. I’m now using a Leica M8, which I admit I didn’t like at first, because it didn’t give me the flexibility the D3 did. But now I find it helps me concentrate and see better; I have just two lenses now – 21 and 50mm, with a Canon SD780 IS/ IXUS 100 supercompact for backup. That thing is as stealthy as it gets! I still have a D90 and some speedlights for my watch photography, though.

Sunstar, Southbank, London

What do you think of Pullfolio so far?
I think it’s great for photographers who are serious about their work, because you get more time to get out there and shoot – instead of trying to learn HTML. If I’d had this a couple of months ago, I could have saved myself two weeks of coding and debugging – and still not being 100% happy with the results. It’s also a whole load cheaper than having somebody write the same code for you, but you’ve got the flexibility to easily make it look how you want with the custom layouts. I think the sense of community is great, too – especially when the agencies and image scouts figure out how much good work is here – it’s MUCH easier to see than trawling flickr directly!

Thank you. And now, let’s see some images!

Photojournalism: the art of preserving a meaningful instant in time

Piccadilly brunch, London

Contemplating what comes after, The British Museum, London

Death and the afterlife fascinated the Egyptians – and rightly so. Eternity is a concept that usually goes ignored in today’s busy world, but becomes increasingly important as we get older. It’s the fundamental question of what happens to us after we die, and why we’re here in the first place.

Solat Raya, London

Morning Eid prayers at the end of Ramadan for Muslims at the Malaysian High Commission, London

Urban Decay, Kuala Lumpur

Despite the soaring pinnacles of engineering in the background, not every part of Kuala Lumpur is as shiny: the old kampung village in the foreground, despite appearances, is not decayed and abandoned but has most probably been demolished to make way for another soulless steel edifice

Construction, Kuala Lumpur

In keeping with the rapid expansion of Kuala Lumpur, development at every size is taking place all over the city – and with local labor costs soaring, contractors have resorted to scores of immigrant workers – some legal, most not.

Protester, City Hall, London

A member of the public protesting at BNP leader Richard Barnbrook’s trial outside City Hall, London. The MP had been brought to tribunal over charges of inciting racial hatred in his community

Horology: a view into time itself, taken nearly to the levels of art