ChinHo Shin

TIFA 2025 Interview with ChinHo Shin
1st Place winner in Editorial, Professional, “Unheard Voices: The Silent Survivors”

Can you introduce yourself and share a bit about your background in photography?

I’m a documentary photographer, and my work grew out of a long practice of observing human life.

I was trained as a neuroscientist, which taught me how to look closely at people—how they endure, adapt, and survive.

As I began documenting people living in conflict and suffering, I realized that photography alone was not enough for me.

I didn’t want my work to end with images. I wanted it to lead to action.

Alongside my documentary practice, I run a small international NGO called TinySeed.

Through this work, I try to respond in practical ways to the needs of the people I meet, working closely with local communities rather than simply documenting them.

What first compelled you to focus your lens on those left behind—women, children, the displaced, and the disabled—within Myanmar’s civil war?

In Myanmar’s civil war, the people who suffer most are often those who never chose the conflict.

Women, children, people with disabilities, and displaced families are frequently pushed to the margins of the story.

I felt compelled to document not only their losses, but their everyday lives—their waiting, their resilience, and their survival.

This work is not about abstract tragedy.

It is about a reality that is still unfolding.

How do you approach the challenge of “giving voice” through images without speaking on behalf of your subjects?

I don’t believe my photographs speak for the people I document. Instead, I try to create space where their presence can be felt.

Through their expressions and the details of their daily lives, I hope viewers can recognize something familiar—

a moment from their own past, or a future they themselves might one day face.

In that connection, I believe empathy becomes possible. Not by explanation, but by recognition—by allowing their pain, loss, and fear to resonate with our own lives.

My role is not to interpret for them, but to stay close, listen carefully, and hotorah at ee level.

What does winning at the Tokyo International Foto Awards mean to you personally and professionally?

Winning the Tokyo International Foto Awards for Unheard Voices, a project documenting the realities of Myanmar’s civil war, was deeply meaningful to me.

On a personal level, it affirmed that the lives and experiences I witnessed resonated beyond my own perspective.

More importantly, the award gave greater visibility to voices that are so often unheard in this conflict.

I see it not as recognition of my work alone, but as a way for these stories—and these people—to reach a wider international audience.

How did being physically present in these environments shape your understanding of the conflict beyond what is typically conveyed through headlines or statistics?

I knew that most people around the world rarely have the chance to encounter the lives of those affected by Myanmar’s civil war.

That awareness pushed me to photograph more carefully, and more persistently—because I felt a responsibility to make their reality visible.

The closer I became to them, the more deeply I understood their suffering. Not as distant victims, but as people living through fear, loss, and uncertainty every day.

At the same time, I carried a quiet hope that if these images could reach morepeople, attention might follow—and with attention, the possibility of help. Even in the midst of conflict, I believe visibility can become a form of hope.

What equipment did you use, and why did you choose it?

I’ve worked with Leica cameras for many years, and I continue to use them because they allow me to render reality with precision and honesty.

At the same time, the realities I photograph are often distant from the viewer’s everyday life.

To bridge that distance, I frequently shoot wide open.

By using very shallow depth of field, I try to place my images at the boundary between reality and something slightly unreal—

a space where the viewer is drawn closer, emotionally rather than descriptively.

For this project, I mainly used the Leica M11 with a 50mm Noctilux f/0.95 and a Summilux 35mm f/1.4 ASPH FLE,

as well as the Leica Q3 with its 28mm Summilux f/1.7 lens.

These tools allow me to remain unobtrusive, work closely with people, and create images that feel intimate—

not distant records, but moments that invite connection.

Tips for Photography (Reels)

0-3s: I don’t start with my camera. I start with a conversation.
3-7s: I wait until they know I’m here for their story, not just a photo.
7-10s: When the heart opens, that’s when I finally press the shutter.
0-3s: Sometimes, the best way to take a photo is to put the camera down.
3-7s: I listen until their “unheard voice” is ready to be seen.
7-10s: Connection first. Photography second.