Profile of a Visionary | Q&A with 2018 Explorer’s Grant Winner Marcus Wong

I first started playing with cameras as a 13-year-old. I loved watching films and TV shows and then trying to replicate what I saw with the camera. I studied film and graphic design at university and kept photography as a hobby, and just as I finished my final year at university, I found out I was the recipient of the Explorer’s Grant!

I found out about the Explorer’s Grant through an Instagram advert! I sent through my application and never expected to be the recipient of such an awesome grant.

I volunteer with NGOs in Uganda and Ethiopia that work with vulnerable people groups, children, rural farmers, and women. I volunteer by using my training in filmmaking and photography to create a library of photos and a short documentary for the organisations to use so that they can raise funds and awareness.

I worked with three different organisations: Buwooya Mission School, EthiopiAid Australia and Action Ethiopia. I was interested in working with these organisations as they worked with vulnerable people groups and provided long-term support by investing in their lives to create change.

For this project I shot using a Sony a99ii, as it was a great hybrid camera with professional level photo and video specs. Most of the time I had a Sony 28-75mm f2.8 lens on as it was very versatile for travel work, and for interviews I used a Sigma 35mm f1.4 lens as it is such a fast and sharp lens. I often had the camera on a DJI Ronin S as a stabiliser for moving shots.

One of the challenges on this trip was keeping my setup as light and portable as possible, as I was constantly on the move. I conducted my interviews in natural light, often using a 5 in 1 diffuser, which eliminated the need to bring any lights on the trip. I had one strobe light for photography, shooting through a collapsible umbrella light modifier, which gave studio quality lighting in one backpack.

Through this grant, I have grown so much in my awareness of global issues of poverty and climate change, and I have grown so much in my technical skills of creating run-and-gun documentaries. 

The three organisations I worked with have expressed so much gratitude for my media work and the financial donation from CameraPro, which has allowed them to continue and improve the work they do with vulnerable people groups.