Oh Soon-Hwa: Weaving Boundaries
In this episode we talk with Oh Soon-Hwa about long-term documentary practice, research, and ethical responsibility. Soon-Hwa reflects on her personal experience of migration and its influence on her photographic work, discussing the importance of curiosity, sustained engagement, and research when working with communities. She explores the ethical challenges of photographing private lives, balancing public visibility with private wellbeing, and explains why care, rather than consent alone, is at the heart of her photographic practice.
What you’ll find inside:
“I’m photographing a certain perspective … I’m really narrowing down to one aspect rather than portraying the entire culture or the whole community” (10.25)
“Although I had all the legal consent, I took it down for the participant because it wasn't about legal issues. It was about ethical issues, and I didn't want to harm her in any way” (22.27)
“Through the project I really saw the limits of my own thinking and perception, my own prejudice … just one or two conversations became awakening moments” (26.26)
“I think something that I’ve done is not necessarily focusing on disseminating the photographs themselves, but using them as an intervention…so I think that’s a way we can expand our impact without focusing solely on the visibility of the images (27.44)
What does photography ethics mean to Soon-Hwa?
“Caring. I care, so I photograph [them]. Whatever protects the participants or subjects that I photograph, I shall do it. That’s photo ethics to me; to make sure they are not harmed by my picture or by my actions. They allow me to photograph them because they care, maybe about me as a stranger and what I want to do, so I try to exchange that same care” (30.23)
Links:
Oh Soon-Hwa is an Associate Professor of Photography at Nanyang Technological University's School of Art, Design and Media in Singapore. She holds a doctorate in education and an MA from Columbia University, as well as an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Through her photography, Soon-Hwa explores the socio-economic impacts of rapid societal shifts caused by climate change and globalization. Her work has been showcased in nearly 100 exhibitions across the USA, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Her scholarly publications include Photographic Collections as Visual Method (Co-Ed. Routledge, 2026), Liminal Landscapes 1940s-1960s (National Museum of Singapore, 2025), Quiet Dream (Onestar Press, 2018), and From Art School to Art World (VDM, 2009). She is currently developing a new photographic monograph, Steep Price: Weavers in Varanasi, which is scheduled for release in early 2027.
You can see her work at https://soonhwa.photoarchive.space