Join us at @zontiga for an evening of conversation with some of Malaysia’s most notable photographers: @iantehphotography @annicelyn @hmmdzarif @hafizjelir!
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻: 27 Sep 2023
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲: 6.30 – 8.30 pm
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: Zontiga
21A, Jalan 20/13, Taman Paramount, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
✅ Ian Teh in conversation with Tom White on “photography in a time of environmental crises.”
✅ Annice Lyn on her 2021 “Climate is Everything” TIME cover art by Red Hong Yi, and photography as advocacy.
✅ Dzarif Ismail and Hafiz Hamzah on personal work and the process of making the 𝘙𝘦𝘬𝘢𝘩 𝘍𝘢𝘫𝘢𝘳 photobook.
About the photographers
Ian Teh is a documentary photographer motivated by environmental and social issues. In an era of continuous urbanisation and development, his work explores the underlying dreams and desires of societies and the individual, and the sacrifices often made to realise them. In the age of the selfie, his panoramic series, Traces: Landscapes in Transition on the Yellow River, revisits the classical monumental landscape, sounding an alarm of terrible beauty, heralding the advancing threat we pose to our planet.
Teh has published three monographs, Undercurrents, Traces and Confluence. His work is part of permanent collections in the USA at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) and the Hood Museum. Selected solo shows include the Kunsthal Museum in Rotterdam in 2012, Flowers in London in 2011 and the Jack Shainman Gallery in New York in 2004. In 2018 he was awarded a grant from the Pulitzer Centre for Crisis Reporting and presented his climate-crisis-related work at the 2018 National Geographic Photography Seminar.
Teh’s work has been published internationally in magazines such as National Geographic, The New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek and Granta. Since 2013, he has mentored at Obscura Festival of Photography, Malaysia’s foremost photo festival, and from 2014 provided his time pro-bono at Cambodia’s Angkor Photo Festival. Teh is a member of the British agency, Panos Pictures.
He currently lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Annice Lyn, a former national figure skater and the first female Malaysian photographer accredited for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, is a photojournalist who focuses on visually documenting critical stories, particularly in sports and humanitarian contexts, addressing prevalent societal issues and subsequently covering the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, amid the global pandemic. As a Southeast Asia Women of the Future Award 2020 laureate and co-founder of Women Photographers Malaysia, she champions inclusivity in visual storytelling. Annice’s notable achievements include a TIME magazine cover in April 2021’s “Climate is Everything” issue and being listed in Forbes 30 Under 30, Asia 2021, for her advocacy in bridging the gender equality gap. Her passion lies in using photography as a tool for change, capturing the present, preserving the past, and uniting people with great impact.
Dzarif Ismail (b. 1994) is a self-taught photographic artist from Perak, Malaysia. His work ranges from the expression of suburban stillness, to the documentation of personal space and objects in response to issues of concern. Upon discovering the importance of recording his own life—and that everything matters—Zarif has been inseparable from photography. His eagerness to learn more about the medium drove him to complete various online courses and read up on the theory and philosophy of photography. To sharpen his artistic vision, he set himself assignments that challenged and refined his skills. In 2018 and 2020, Zarif assisted in curating art and photography exhibitions in Ipoh, Perak. He is currently living in Kuala Lumpur, and continues to photograph everything around him, everyday. His debut photobook was supported by the Zontiga Photobook Grant 2022, released on 2nd of September 2023.
𝘙𝘦𝘬𝘢𝘩 𝘍𝘢𝘫𝘢𝘳 (‘𝘙𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵’) 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 46 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘰𝘧-𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴—𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦; 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦; 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱; 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮.
About the hosts
Hafiz Hamzah is the editor for Jurnal Svara. Publisher, literature and photography, Obscura Malaysia.
Originally from Yorkshire, Tom White studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths College in London and Photojournalism & Documentary at the international Center of Photography in New York. Working as a freelance photographer across the disciplines of journalism, documentary and art, his work has been published and exhibited internationally and has been commissioned variously as a photographer, videographer, and consultant for local and international NGOs. From 2015-2022 he taught Documentary & Photojournalism at Yale-NUS College. He has also taught classes and workshops with the Objectifs Centre in Singapore, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and at the International Centre of Photography in New York. Tom continues to work on a variety of photography-based social engagement projects and is interested in all aspects of visual literacy and communication, particularly in regard to environmental issues, socially engaged art, journalism and the intersection of political economy, media, technology, and society. His current research explores the potential for immersive media as a tool for community based resilience and environmental stewardship.
Vignes Balasingam is a photographer and the founder and director of Obscura Festival of Photography, an international festival focused on narrative photography from the region and across the globe. His first large curation was in the aftermath of the Bersih 3.0 rally that swept Malaysia demanding a free and fair elections. In 2013 he founded the Obsc ura Festival of Photography dedicated to critical thinking and public discourse through the photographic medium. Vignes Balasingam was jury for the 2023 World Press Photo and is a nominato for the Joop Swart Masterclass.
