Philippe Teston - photographer, observer, monopoly player.

Korea Through An iPhone Part II

Philippe Teston — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 13:45:45 +0000

Round 2! 31 photos. Oh Korea…

Portraits Part III

Philippe Teston — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:15:29 +0000

Part three of a continuing portrait project. From Korea and New York.

I don’t know where this is going, or really what it’s about anymore. But here are 19 images to hold you over.

Dianna

Liam

Kevin

More after the jump.

Sean

Violet

I forgot his name, but he’s a filmmaker.

…and his name too, but he’s also a filmmaker.

Bronwyn

Sam

Paul

Erica

Kelsey

Brian

Lisa

Seon-hee

Ji-sook

Alan

Addie

South Korea, Part II

Philippe Teston — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 04:28:16 +0000

A long time coming…

As we wind down on year one of our time in Korea, here’s a video I made of the highlights and beauty we’ve witnessed. Korea really is a magical place.

And also a place where you get iced a lot. At least on your birthday anyway.

So for those of you who may be leaving in a few weeks to continue on with other things, don’t be sad. We’ve had a lot of great times together. And at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters.

Without further adieu, here’s the video – ENJOY! (a version in HD is available here … I STRONGLY recommend you view that one, in fullscreen mode:) )

Korea Through An iPhone

Philippe Teston — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 05:24:07 +0000

Been a while since I last posted something. Busy with work, started taking pictures for a magazine too. More about that another time.

So here’s a selection of images from my iPhone. I’m finding more and more that I carry my DSLR around a lot less, unless I’m out on a specific shoot. And that doesn’t mean the pictures are bad…if anything, they’re a lot more telling. And sometimes strange. Like how there is a homeless stuffed teddy bear problem in Seoul.

It’s also a really personal narrative – most of the pictures were taken at important points in my time here or are of people that have a special place in my life, and I’m only now realizing this. I suppose that’s part of the reason why I’m putting these up.

That and I haven’t posted in a while. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Portraits Part II

Philippe Teston — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 03:12:11 +0000

Happy Easter!

This is the second part of the portrait project. Most of these were taken in the Philippines and Cambodia. 15 images. Enjoy!

Fiona

Koo-yeon

Beggar, Cambodia

More after the jump.
Cambodian monk

Hye-soon

David

Francesca

Maritrude

Mariela

Unknown Cambodian Boy

Stephanie

Rain

Jackie

Eddie

Sol

A Generation Lost.

Philippe Teston — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 07:15:09 +0000

From 1975 to 1979, millions of individuals deemed spies, enemies of the state, and subversive to the communist government of Pol Pot were ruthlessly tortured, interrogated, and sent to labor camps or executed all over Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge government was exacting revenge.

Close to 20,000 Cambodians were sent to Tuol Sleng, a prison camp converted from a high school in Phnom Penh, the capital. Of the people sent here, only seven made it out alive. “Confessions” were forced out of the prisoners through beatings, waterboarding, rape, and body mutilation. Prisoners were fed next to nothing, their legs chained to iron bars for most of the day. And in the end, if they survived Toul Sleng, they were shipped off in trucks to Choeung Ek – the killing field.

Approximately 15 kilometers outside of the city, victims were unloaded at night and hacked away at with axes, back hoes, machetes – whatever the executioners could find. Children were held by their legs and swung into a tree, their skulls smashing on the tree bark. In the eyes of the Khmer Rouge, these “traitors” weren’t worth the price of a bullet. They were buried on the spot in mass graves, nameless individuals, forgotten by the world.

Only seven people are known to have survived Tuol Sleng.

There was something incredibly eerie about wandering the hallways and the fields of these two sites. Despite the sweltering heat, the mood was heavy, an extra weight on my shoulders. At Choeung Ek, bits of bone and clothing peaked through the surface, brought up by the rain. There were bodies still buried there, a mausoleum filled to the top with skulls. You could feel the pain of the thousands of Cambodians who were processed here. And yet, right outside the barbed wire walls of Tuol Sleng are a string of restaurants. I’ve heard from some Cambodians that many of the younger generation don’t know, or much less care about the horrible and painful history their parents and grandparents had to endure. These victims are being forgotten, drifting away once again. Is there anything that can be done?

You think about a lot of things when you see those skulls. You think about what kind of lives those people could have lived. I thought about what I could do to be a better person.

You think about everything in your life. And if it has all been worth it. But you gotta try.

Below are images from Tuol Sleng and Cheoung Ek.

More after the jump.

A Long Time Coming

Philippe Teston — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 05:41:13 +0000

It was the last day of the school year, a chilly day in late December. A few teachers were retiring, some were transferring to other schools. And as the minutes ran down before we were all to leave and go our separate ways, I decided that I wanted to take portraits of the teachers who would be leaving Bonglim Middle School. And it started with the first image below.

I went home, looked at the photographs, and immediately wanted to take portraits of everyone I knew in Korea. An ambitious project, but one that I felt I had to do, for a myriad of reasons that one day I’ll be able to talk about. Or not.

I’ve always loved black and white portraiture, but had never done it myself. Just jumped right into it. I personally think using this process uncovers those little gems about the subject, the bits people usually miss. And even more about the relationship between subject and photographer.

It took me a long time to finally make these public. Most of the people photographed haven’t seen their portrait. It was surprisingly difficult putting these together, looking straight into peoples’ souls constantly for weeks.

There are a lot more portraits to work on, a lot more people to take photographs of. This is an ongoing project, and I’ll periodically post some updates here.

For now, here are fifteen people. Please give me some feedback, comments, suggestions, observations. I’d love to hear what you think. Especially from the people photographed.

Thank you.

Yang-hoo

Mi-sook

Man-kyoo

More after the jump.

Sang-hee

Jeong-hyun

Bung-ki

Brian

Garret

Todde

Rachel

Tami

Yuri

Alan

Elizabeth

Sydney

This Is What Happens When People Take Your Camera

Philippe Teston — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 15:09:26 +0000

Wednesday night. Woodstock Wednesday. I bring my camera. And of the 328 photos from that night, I take only 15 frames. What happened?

Someone took my camera from me.

It’s a strange feeling being on the receiving end of a lens. I’m so used to being the one who takes pictures. So when people start taking pictures of me, I get nervous. It’s not because I’m shy or anything. All I can think about is if they got the exposure correct, the white balance on point, the subject in focus. You know, stupid photographer stuff.

That, and I know the pictures will always be of me doing something ridiculous.

Also, I think there were more photos taken of me that night than in my entire time in Korea combined.

So when I looked at the pictures on the big screen earlier today, I was pleasantly surprised. While a lot of the pictures weren’t technically perfect (in fact, some of them were downright horrible), the people who used my camera captured a lot. Serious faces. Happy faces. Personalities. And Seabolt attempting to slap me in the face.

There’s something about the photos that I haven’t been able to bring myself to do in a long time. Whenever I go out to shoot, I always have a goal in mind. A specific way for my images to look. These photographers had no agenda. No real motive, other than to capture the evening. And I think that purity comes out in their pictures.

Of the 26 photographs posted here, only the last two were taken by me. The rest were taken by Alan, Brian, Yuri, Liam, and I’m sure some other people that I couldn’t see from my alcohol-blurred vision.

Just know that I am very proud of all of you.

Enjoy, and see you in a few weeks – off to Cambodia and Thailand.

More after the jump.

Samsung Town

Philippe Teston — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 06:34:35 +0000

Photographs from the 2nd grade trip to Samsung Town. Was a little boring, except for video games and stuff, which the students liked. But there was a photo exhibit on one of the floors, and there were a few gems there. It was really just a showcase for Samsung cameras…and of course, I’m there shooting with my Canon gear. Pretty much jsut took pictures of teachers the whole time – surprisingly, I don’t have too many photos of teachers other than those in the English department. Hopefully they’re getting used to me taking photos of them all the time. Oh, and they seemed bored too. But the whole thing was only two hours, and we all went out for lunch afterwards.

Pictures from that, the Gangnam Station area, and bread. (26 images).

Enjoy, and have a happy New Year!

-Phil

More after the jump.

Christmas Eve

Philippe Teston — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 06:15:11 +0000

Scenes from Christmas Eve. The restaurant that we took over, Woodstock, Mountain Dew-charged Santa, and the origins of cake beer and other cake-oriented beverages. The bartender, who’s a good friend of ours, was so confused when he was cleaning the beer mugs that morning.

Also, gave away my Santa hat to the teacher who said I was the most handsome Santa around. Thanks 김연희! Flattery goes a long way.

I think I’m posting these pictures up in reverse order, haha. (27 images)

Up next, pictures from the second grade trip to Samsung Town.

Enjoy!

More after the jump.