Stefen Chow

Stefen Chow (1980) is grateful to be a witness through his camera as a photographer and director. He is well versed in minimal to full production setups, and has proven his versatility by working across different genres in the industry across 40 countries. He has directed and photographed campaigns for Fortune 500 companies including portraits of artists, celebrities and billionaires. His work has garnered awards from the Tokyo Type Director’s Club, D&AD Awards, World Press Photo, National Geographic, Photographie de la Paris and more. He has also summited Mount Everest at the age of 25. Stefen is part of artist duo Chow and Lin. The crux of Chow and Lin’s practice lies in their methodology of statistical, mathematical and computational techniques to address global issues. Their work have been exhibited internationally in museums and biennales across 3 continents, including St Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum, Beijing’s CAFA Museum and Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Photography. One of their long term projects, The Poverty Line, won the Rencontres LUMA Book Dummy Award. Stefen has lived in New York, Singapore, the Himalayas and currently based in Beijing with his wife and two young children.

CV Selected Solo Exhibitions 2019 “Equivalence”, 75th Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand 2018 "Homeless", NUS Museum, Singapore 2018 “The Poverty Line”, United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand 2018 "The Poverty Line", Georgetown Festival, Whiteaways Arcade, Penang, Malaysia 2017 "Equivalence - The Ecological Footprint of Fish", Lianzhou Foto Festival, Lianzhou, China 2017 "Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime. - Aristotle", Myanm/art, Yangon, Myanmar 2017 "Equivalence", Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film, Singapore 2015 “deTour”, PMQ, Hong Kong 2015 “L’exposition MONEY - Les Nuits Photographiques”, Le Pavillon Carré de Baudouin, Paris 2015 “Second Photo Biennial - Unfamiliar Asia”, CAFA Museum, Beijing 2015 “The Poverty Line”, Studio 94, Taipei 2012 “Caochangdi PhotoSpring: Arles in Beijing”, Three Shadows Gallery, Beijing 2012 "3D in 4 Continents", Arts House, Singapore 2011 “The Poverty Line - China", Newton Circus, Singapore 2006 “Climbing the Human Spirit - an Everest Journey”, The National Library, Singapore Selected Group Exhibitions 2020 “What does Democracy look like?”, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, USA 2020 "Togethering", Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas, USA 2019 "Intersect: Technology, Belief and the Environment", FotoFest, Houston, Texas 2019 "Athens Photo Festival", Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece 2019 "Milano Photo Week", Italy 2018 “Equivalence - The Ecological Footprint of Fish”, 2018 Xishuangbanna Foto Festival, Xishuangbanna, China, 2018 "Capitalist Realism: The loss of the future", Thessaloniki PhotoBiennale 2018, Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Thessaloniki, Greece 2018 "Transitions II: Post-conflict: reframing a dialogue", Getxophoto International Image Festival 2018, Getxo, Spain 2017 "Here I Live- XII Annual International Media-Forum of young journalists of Eurasia «Dialogue of Cultures»", the State Hermitage Museum, Saint-Petersberg, Russia 2017 "5th International Vision Methods Conference", Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore 2017 "Photo Speaks 2017", Mirae Baeknyeon Gwan Wolhae, Sangmyung University, Seoul, South Korea 2017 "Environmental Photo Festival »Horizons Zingst«", Baltic Sea, Germany 2017 "Shanghai International Photography Festival", China Art Museum, China 2016 "Desire and Need", Ark Gallery, Amanasalto Shanghai, China 2015 “Observations of the Ordinary by Chow3”, ION Art gallery, Singapore 2015 “Picturing Change: Visual Culture and the Art of Advocacy”, White Box Publika, Malaysia 2013 “WYNG Masters Award”, Artistree, Hong Kong 2013 “China Stories”, Museum of Modern Art, Tblisi, Georgia 2012 “Transience”, China House, Penang 2011 “Moment of Recognition”, International Center of Photography, New York 2011 “Photography Open Salon”, Galerie Huit, Arles 2009 “Prix de la Photographie”, Espace Dupon Gallery, Paris 2009 “Life and Dreams - Pingyao International Photography Festival”, China 2006 “Ngee Ann Photographic Exhibition”, Singapore 2005 “HYPE”, The Arts House, Singapore Jury Duty 2020 British Journal of Photography, OpenWalls Arles, France 2013-2016 Photography Director and Jury, The Other Hundred, Hong Kong 2006 - 2016 The Noise Award, National Arts Council, Singapore 2015 Nikon Photography Awards, Shanghai 2015 LIGHT & LIFE, National Geographic Live and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 2015 Light in Your Heart, Shin Kong Insurance, Taiwan 2014 Head of Jury, Crowbar Awards, Photography, Singapore 2013 Nikon Photography Awards, Tokyo Lectures 2019 Singapore Young Leaders Forum, Singapore 2019 Reminders Project Stronghold, Tokyo, Japan 2019 Why, IDEO, Nairobi, Kenya 2018 Committee on Social Development Fifth Session, United Nations, Bangkok, Thailand 2016 Reporting on Inequality, Asian Journalism Forum, Singapore 2016 Lee Kuan Yew School of Policy, Singapore 2016 Zanadu Beijing 2016 IDEO Shanghai 2015 Picturing Poverty Conference, University of Science Po, Paris 2015 BODW, Hong Kong 2015 TBWA Singapore 2015 TEDxKyoto, Kyoto 2015 TEDxTaipei, Taipei 2015 LIGHT & LIFE, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 2015 National Taiwan University, Taiwan 2014 APEC Women Leadership Summit, Beijing 2014 TEDxKL, Kuala Lumpur 2012 Global Talent Search, TED @ Shanghai 2012 School of Visual Arts 2008 TEDxBeijing, Beijing Awards 2020 Winner of Category: “Science in the Arts”, Falling Walls : The Science Breakthroughs of the Year at the Berlin Science Week 2020, Germany 2020 Winner of Landskrona Foto & Artproof Portfolio Award 2020 at Landskrona Foto Festival 2020, Sweden 2020 Finalist, Silvana S. Foundation Commission Award, Singapore 2019 Winner of Luma Rencontres Dummy Book Award Arles 2019 at the Rencontres d'Arles 2019 Shortlist, Vontobel Contemporary Photography Prize, Switzerland 2019 Wood Pencil, D&AD Awards, London 2019 Merit, Tokyo Type Directors Club, Japan 2016 Honorable Mentions, Moscow International Photo Awards, Russia 2015 Outstanding Alumni, Temasek Junior College, Singapore 2014 Nominated, Young Global Leaders, World Economic Forum 2013 2nd Prize, World Press Photo, Amsterdam 2013 Nominated, Prix Pictet, Switzerland 2013 Finalist, WYNG Contemporary Art Prize, Hong Kong 2013 Winner, AI-PI, Latin American Fotografia 2011 Grand Prize, Arles Open Photography Salon, Galerie Huit, Arles 2010 1st Prize, Shipyards, Advertising, PX3, Paris 2010 Winner, World in Focus, National Geographic, New York 2010 Honorable Prize, China Workers, Px3, Paris 2009 3rd Prize, Photojournalism, Sports, PX3, Paris 2008 Winner, Eddie Adams Workshop, New York 2008 Winner, PDN Billboard Contest, New York 2008 Honorable Mention, International Photo Awards, New York 2008 Singapore Hero, Fortis, Singapore 2007 Young Outstanding Alumni, National University of Singapore 2006 Named Asia's Finest Photographers, Nikon