Khánh Hmoong: Shining On Until Tomorrow

A Parallel Planets piece by Unknown

Parallel Planets presents Khánh Hmoong

in Shining On Until Tomorrow

Story and Interview by Erin Emocling

Mentioned: coffee and cigarettes, films instead of bullets, and The Beatles

* * *

Film photography has a very special spot here on Parallel Planets mainly because I’m an analogue advocate myself. Our birth month isn’t over yet but we’ve already featured some of the best film photographers around the planet: Mira Heo from South Korea, Tracy V. Moore from the USA, and Sean Lotman and Bahag de Guzman, who are both currently residing in Japan. We have a lot more film shooters in store for you in the upcoming weeks and today, come along with us on this trip as we walk back to Asia and tell the story of Khánh Hmoong from Vietnam.

I met Khánh, or Hmoong, through Shooting Film, a website that is dedicated to all things film—from galleries, guides, and tips to interviews, guest posts, and other exclusive features on the subculture of analogue photography. I was drawn to his pages because unlike the usual propaganda-ish blogs here and there, Shooting Film seemed very friendly just as it is informative.

After a couple of guest posts, Khanh invited me to their editorial team and since I’ve been looking for an outlet to continue and start a number of series on film photography, I immediately said yes and joined his group. I was still on the early stages of putting up Parallel Planets when I became part of Shooting Film. Even though we only speak through emails and chat conversations, Khanh is one of the people who’s been helping me, free of charge, with my project and I'm really grateful.

photo by Khánh Hmoong

I don’t know Khanh that well yet but I like how dedicated he is to shooting with film. He religiously posts film photographs, which I really like seeing on my timeline because he lets me peek into a window where I can see the stunning city of Nha Trang. As someone who’s living in a different place on Earth, wanting to go there myself so I could take pictures using my own camera is pretty meaningful and mighty. To me, this is how his photography speaks to me.

Just like how I am, Khanh is not a purist—he still takes pictures using digital cameras. But it’s not like he’s committing a crime whenever he presses the digital shutter button. It is with the way he expresses himself through photographs, no matter if it’s on emulsions or in pixels. This is why I understand his affection for film. We do it for fun and “cameraderie,” nothing more and nothing less.

He also has a bunch of tattoos that are related to film photography. Of course, no man would bother inking himself for life with something he’s not sincerely passionate with.

Khánh's Shooting Film is a merely young publication but, already, it has established a universal voice and gained an army of followers from all over the world, a herd that’s united with a common denominator that is to start a silent yet powerful, visual revolution through analogue photography and to continue reliving our memories through film pictures.

photo by Khánh Hmoong

Read on to my interview with Khanh Hmoong and learn about how he started Shooting Film, his other creative photography projects, and his admiration for John Lennon.

* * *

Parallel Planets: Hi, Khánh Hmoong! How are you? What were you doing before this interview?

Khánh Hmoong: "Hi Erin! I own a small coffee shop called “Let It Be” in my hometown, Nha Trang City and I’ve been there almost all day for works or meetings. The name was inspired by one of my favorite bands', The Beatles, song.

Parallel Planets: Tell us something about yourself as a film photographer and before you became one.

Khánh Hmoong: "I’m not a professional photographer; I’m just a film shooter. Photography is one of my favorite hobbies, most especially film photography. I love photography but I never completed training at any photography school, I just learned by myself."

Parallel Planets: When/How did your inclination with analogue photography begin?

Khánh Hmoong: "It was February 2011 when I first began with photography. I shoot film at the beginning and fell in love with analogue since then. I love its its nostalgia, the grain, the colors, and accidents of analogue pictures."

Parallel Planets: What defines your artistic style? What are your “trademarks”?

Khánh Hmoong: "I love shooting landscapes and everyday life whenever I travel to the cities across my country, Vietnam. I also love shooting wild and candid portraits of my friends in film. All the models in my pictures are my friends. When I have time, I also love discovering my films in many ways like red-scale, doing light-leaks, swapping with other film photographers, or sometimes even shooting on both sides of the roll."

photo by Khánh Hmoong

photo by Khánh Hmoong

Parallel Planets: What influences your work? Who are your idol photographers?

Khánh Hmoong: "My life around me, my friends, my trips, and the music that I listen to. I love The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Nirvana… and I think their music has influenced me, too.

I’m very interested in the film photography of Lukasz Wierzbowski a.k.a. neon.tambourine, hodachrome, Kevin Meredith a.k.a. lomokev, Mariam Sitchinava, Tamara Lichtenstein, and many other film photographers from Flickr. I look at their galleries everyday."

Parallel Planets: Shooting Film, your website, has a growing audience worldwide. Share with us how it began, why you started it, and your long term goals with it.

Khánh Hmoong: "Nowadays, photographers who shoot film are low in number when compared to digital, and most of them don't have a chance to feature their work on photography blogs. In this digital age, there are just a few blogs or websites taking about guides, tips, or inspirations for analogue. So, I started Shooting Film circa Summer of 2012 with a hope that this is a place for connecting film photographers around the world from amateurs to professionals, a place where they can get inspirations from other film photographers or to share their work and their passion for film photography with others."

Parallel Planets: What is your mantra in life?

Khánh Hmoong: "Shoot film, not bullets."

photo by Khánh Hmoong

photo by Khánh Hmoong

Parallel Planets: What was the craziest thing you've done to save film from being “dead?”

Khánh Hmoong: "I started Shooting Film and invited some of my clients at my Let It Be coffee shop to join photography and shoot film with me."

Parallel Planets: Aside from film photography, what other creative pursuits are you interested in? What are your hobbies?

Khánh Hmoong: "I usually make plans for our next trips because I love travelling so much. I like to eat, sleep, shoot analogue, and travel."

Parallel Planets: Mention three of your favorite things in the world.

Khánh Hmoong: "Coffee, cigarettes, and phở."

Parallel Planets: Do you have any weird habits? Strange desires? Unlikely fetishes? Surprise us.

Khánh Hmoong: "Sometimes, I love riding my bike on one wheel or drinking coffee alone in a strange coffee shop in a strange city. Are these weird enough?"

photo by Khánh Hmoong

photo by Khánh Hmoong

Parallel Planets: What project(s) are you currently working on?

Khánh Hmoong: "I have a project called “Montage Portraits,” where I shoot portraits of my friends. I shoot each of them with 5 images by using my Nikon FM camera and a 50mm lens then I merge the pictures as one. This project was inspired by lomokev’s project with the same name.

I’m also working on my ongoing photo project named "Vietnam - Looking into the Past," which is shot by a Nikon D90 and features pictures of my country from then and now."

photo by Khánh Hmoong

Parallel Planets: In this planet that we're thriving in—

What is your power animal? "Dog. They are our friends."

Who is your alternate ego? "No one."

Parallel Planets: In an alternate universe where photography does not exist—

What would your name be? "John Lennon because I love him and his music."

What would you be doing instead? "I don’t shoot analogue or digital at all."

photo by Khánh Hmoong

More from Khánh Hmoong

chupanhdao.com

facebook.com/khanh

flickr.com/hmoong