Ted Chin: Constructed Photography

1. Ted
Chin
By Hanna
Vongpraseuth

2. History
● During adolescence, attended art centered
school
● After h.s. graduation, went to Upstate NY
○ Studied computer graphics
● Went to San Francisco for master program
in 3D animation
○ Learned storytelling, setting camera shots, and
presented information in one image
● Discovered he was better in photo
manipulation than 3D animation
○ Led to photography (about 1 year ago)
○ Co-manages Instagramers in San Francisco
○ Canon Rebel XTi (rents a Canon 5D Mark III) with
either an 18-55mm or 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, a tripod
and remote trigger (more complex)

3. Ideas/Motivation
● Desire to travel
○ Not in a position to do so
○ Not good at writing
● To see how our mind works
○ how far can he imagine
● Inspired by dreams, myths,
or fantasy tales
○ Lord of the Rings
● Inspired by other
photographers
○ Benjamin Von Wong
■ Idea that his art may
have the potential to
make the world a better
place

4. Technique &
Process
• Sketches ideas out on paper (tactile)
o Feelings or situations,
o See something or is blank
 Understand himself more
• Tries to photograph all the source material
o Revisits “library”
o Uses few stock/public domain images to practice
skills/brain
• Few reference photos/sketch next to my
computer
o Plans out the background, foreground, elements
o Fixes lighting
 Lightroom to finish up with some nice tone editing
o Looks for corrections
 Puts another layer to draw on top; repeats if necessary
o Leaves it for a few days

5. https://youtu.be/mHlaPvRJUwM
● 9 hours to create
● Clear crisp and
strength in
structure
● Edits are
reminiscent of
18th century
watercolors
○ Blurs the line
between painting
and photograph
○ Often using
flowing fabrics
and picturesque
muses
○ Hard to tell what’s
real in his shots
○ Feels wistful,
alluring,
mysterious and
ethereal

6. Fake World

7. Fake World continued...

8. Future Goals
• Exhibition of prints in gallery/museum
• Children’s story book with his photo
manipulation
o Art to create a dialogue
o Stories he tells to be discussed
• Collaborate with other artists
o Teams push him to the limits
o Story he wants to share with people
• Commercial photographer
o Client’s product combined with ideas and his style