About Ian Taylor | Hong Kong Photographer Since 2007
Born in Liverpool to Canadian parents, I moved to Ontario when I was one.
I’m the eldest of six from Prince Edward County, Ontario, so I’m essentially an island kid at heart. My path to the camera wasn't a straight line; it wound through life as a restaurateur, five years as a motion picture technician, and six years in Phnom Penh, originally as Business Manager for The Cambodia Daily newspaper. I had an adventure, Cambodia is still somewhere I travel back to all the time.
That background shaped my way of looking at the world through a lens. While others focused on what parents wanted to see, I focused on what kids were actually doing. Whether I’m documenting Hong Kong families, weddings, or humanitarian organizations, it is about personality over poses.
I consider myself a total photographer. I have applied my skills to capturing families, since I learned my trade photographing my five siblings’ kids. Nobody was photographing children in a natural style back then, so I just trusted my instincts and kept shooting.
At the end of the day, photography is all about light, whether you are photographing architecture, food or stars. I am obsessed with finding great light, that’s why I am so picky with locations!
In my spare time I play music, having had bands in Hong Kong, Thailand and the only Western band in Cambodia during the ‘90s. In Bangkok I played for years with The Midnight Ramblers, the top Rolling Stones cover band in Asia.
My other obsession is kayaking, I have kayaked the 600 kms from the Thai-Burma border to the Malaysian border, twice. If anyone is interested, here is the route with lots of camping spots.