Joel Chung: Photographer and "Tester" for the Polaroid Company
Photographer Joel Chung is the envy of his fellow Polaroid fanatics—three years ago, he was appointed by the Polaroid Company as the official “tester” for their prototype cameras in Asia. He talks to June Ng about the beauty of instant photography and the dangers involved in capturing street life.
HK Magazine: How did you score such a cool job?
Joel Chung: I actually recommended myself for it. I got in touch with the Polaroid company just because I wanted to get a deal bulk-buying film. Then I thought, why don’t I send them my work and see what they think about it? I did and then they invited me to be their camera tester. I’ve been doing it for three years.
HK: What do you actually do?
JC: I try out their prototype cameras and write up reports on them so that designers can make improvements. For instance, I asked them why they would put a non-elastic strap on an instant camera that you have to spend time adjusting so that it fits your hand. Another bonus is that I get free film.
HK: Which camera models have you tried?
JC: Besides regular models, I’ve also tested ones designed for doctors and plastic surgeons to use when performing procedures. They’re big and mounted on a stand. I’ve also tried an instant camera that takes passport photos. It’s designed to be used by big corporations to take photographs of their employees when they join the company.
HK: How many pictures have you taken?
JC: About 10,000, but among those I’ve probably given 2,000 away to people. One of my hobbies is taking photographs of street scenes, just random people in their day-to-day lives. I take a picture, ask them to sign it, and then take another picture to give to them.
HK: Do they always understand what you’re doing? Have you ever been beaten up for taking photographs of strangers?
JC: Sometimes old people in walled villages don’t like to be photographed, but fortunately I’ve never been beaten up. However, there was one incident in Tai Kok Tsui when I was taking pictures of construction workers demolishing a building. None of them were wearing safety belts and when they noticed me taking photographs they were all worried that I might report them for not taking appropriate safety measures. They all started yelling and swearing at me as I took photographs in the opposite building. Another time, I was on the mainland and a guy rushed across busy traffic because he thought that I was taking his photograph. It turned out that he was just a dot in my picture—my actual focus was on the building behind him.
HK: Any Polaroid related trivia that you’d like to share?
JC: Did you know that Polaroid’s biggest client used to be the government? This is because the pictures cannot be retouched or altered, and so it can be used to collect evidence, especially for forensic science. Also, the biggest Polaroid film you can get is 30 by 40 inches, with a camera to match.