Adventures in photography

 The antics daring photographers come to television tonight in “Photo Face-Off”, a History Channel reality series that will see shutterbugs from around the region going up against professionals and demonstrating just how far they will go to get the perfect shot.

“I’ve always nervous when the moment comes to judge a picture. It’s kind of funny that I am a professional and if I lose, I’d be losing to an amateur,” says the professional in question, American lensman Justin Mott 

Mott, who is based in Vietnam, works as a photojournalist covering Southeast Asia though he also does commercial shots for travel destinations and memorable wedding ceremonies. His works have been published in the New York Times, Time and Forbes, and he has won several awards and accolades in his career. Now, for the History Channel, he will be challenged by amateur photographers from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam as they compete for the assignment of a lifetime. The winner gets two all-expenses-paid trips, the first to Japan for the Canon Photoclinic and mentoring by a professional photographer; the second to New York City where that training will be put to use as an official red carpet event photographer for some of the world’s biggest stars. 

“Photo Face-Off” promises to keep viewers on the edge of their seats as the photographers’ skills and creativity are put to the test as they complete speed, theme and extreme challenges under time limits in a one-day marathon in different countries.

Flying the flag for Thailand is businessman Richard Silaraks, who goes up against Mott in an episode to be aired on October 14. The speed challenge for this episode is to photograph a happy baby near the Ayutthaya floating market. The theme challenge takes place at Wat Chaiwatthanaram while the extreme challenge is focused on the Royal Elephant Kraal where they have to pose and photograph two elephants. Mott may be the professional but his inability to speak Thai hampers communication with his subjects. 

“You have really to capture the moment,” says Mott. “That’s important because if you win that challenge, you get to pick the theme for the next one.” 

“The themes are very subjective,” adds Richard, a keen amateur with a fondness landscape and underwater photography

“The extreme challenge is fast, harsh, and dangerous,” Mott continues. “The buffalo race in Negara, Indonesia was tough and I was stung by a bee while taking pictures at a honey farm in Kuala Lumpur. We also don’t know in advance what camera we will be using for each of the challenges.”

After two months of intense travel, the five contestants gather in Kenting, Taiwan for the grand finale. Here, the speed challenge takes contestants underwater as they compete to take the best shot of Kenting’s abundant marine life. The theme challenge is held at Kenting Stony Brook Nature Farm, a windswept cattle farm. Finally, the extreme challenge takes contestants up in the air as they struggle to take a great photograph while paragliding.

“The amateur photographers go up against each other in the final episode and I am just the judge,” Mott explains.

“Each country offers very different experiences but the idea of the show is not all about photographers but to showcase the cultures, people and destinations. You have a very short time to impress the judge. There are no captions and no excuse. It’s not that the photo is bad. The cool thing about photography is that it’s so subjective.”

 CLICK AND RUN

 - “Photo Face-Off” premieres tonight at 9.30 on History HD (TrueVisions 556). Re-runs show on True X-Zyte (TrueVisions 351) and on True Explore 2 (TrueVisions 560).

- For more details, check out www.HistoryAsia.com.