Born in Manchester. Attended Leeds College of Art and now London-based. We are talking about Paul Phung. The 26-year-old photographer whose work is influenced by all forms of art already worked with big and well-known magazines like Dazed and Confused or music labels such as Domino Records. His work, which is mainly held in black and white transmits feelings, emotions and creates an impression of space and isolation. Moreover, the talented photographer has planned many things for this year, for instance collaborations with fashion designers, musicians and publishers. We wanted to get to know Paul and asked him about his work and why he chooses black and white photography.
I think it depends on the person really, I have quite a few friends in London who are self-taught and probably have a better technical knowledge of photography than me. The great thing about being a student at Leeds was the freedom I had and it wasn’t purely just photography we were studying. I experimented a lot during my first few years and in a way I wanted to understand if I even wanted to become a photographer.
I have no idea, I studied quite a few different art related subjects after school and dropped out of them all and seemed to just landed into a photography class.
Absolutely, it’s hard for me to think about anything else.
I feel sometimes colour can be very distracting in what I’m trying to communicate through my photos. I like to have a lot of space in my images and room for the viewer to breathe whilst observing and the only way I know how to do that is in black and white.
For now, yes.
This constantly changes as I grow older as a photographer, but I feel like at times I can be inspired by anything, for example I remember a time when I was walking home and saw a tiny crack on the wall and for the rest of the journey I was just picturing it huge as a backdrop. London can be one incredibly painful city to live in but I do truly love all the museums and galleries it has to offer and all the amazing opportunities I’ve been given since living here.
It is very personal my work and I want to keep all my work as a strong reflection on who I am as a person.
Sometimes it’s from an email I’ve sent, other times it can be from a friend recommending me or the job just lands in my inbox and I never really know how. With any well established magazine I’ve done work for, it’s always been really fun.
I’m not someone who gets attached to cameras. I’ve had so many and given so many away, but digital I have a Canon Mark II. And film, well a few point and shoots and a lot of half working 35mm SLR’s.
Possibly, but I’ve still got so much to learn in photography
A question I always try avoid asking myself, but if I can live my life solely working as a photographer then I would be incredibly grateful.
