Photographer story
Tse Kao
interview by Pauline de Villiers Brettell and photography by Tse Kao
T
he work of photographer Tse Kao first came onto my radar when doing some re-
search for an article on Biophilic Design. Wanting to develop this concept beyond the realm of interiors to discover how it translates into fashion and other disciplines, his BLENDSCAPES images stood out and captured my attention and my imagination, both as a point of reference, but also as creative works of art in their own right. I chatted to Tse about his creative journey, the process of collaboration and, in fact, how he found his way from surgical assistant, to musician, to photographer… In the conversation, it soon became clear that this was a life journey and photography has been as much a part of this process as has the spiritual journey which he has been on. This spirituality does, I feel, see itself being expressed in Tse’s images, even when that photography is for essentially a commercial campaign. Looking at the images in the Blendscape or Social Stories series, there is an engagement with the subject that does speak of the photographer, and to the viewer. Better expressed in his own words…
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