The incredible images of Norm Yip have been used by several Fortune 500 companies as part of their advertsing and publishing campaigns in Asia, and elsewhere around the world. Norm's images in glamour/fashion photography are not the average, "run-of-the-mill" images which so many photographers produce. While many of Norm's photographs could be categorized in several areas of photography, the underlying statement of glamour/fashion stands strong throughout his portfolio.

While evaluating Norm's portfolio, we were amazed to learn that he is a self-taught professional photographer! The images in Norm's portfolio could stand up against any pro in the field today, as being among the best available.

Norm's humility regarding his work in photography is a great characteristic to have in this profession. Although his photographs have been used internationally for major companies, Norm feels that his photography career is nothing major to speak of...true humility indeed.

Be sure to check out the portfolio of this up and coming photographer from Hong Kong, China and see why we chose his work to be included on Profotos. Norm Yip is truly one of China's best professional glamour/fashion photographers!,I was born in a small Canadian prairie town named NIPAWIN. I'm sure the researchers for the movie Fargo checked out my hometown for character studies. Winters are inhumanly cold and for some, Lysol is a standard drink.

I received my B.A. at the University of Saskatchewan (1984) and my B.Architecture at the University of Toronto (1989). I worked briefly as an architect and tour guide in Toronto before heading to Hong Kong in 1994 in search of 'a better life'. In Hong Kong, I worked as an architect for 4-1/2 years before making the decision to pursue my interest in art (drawing, painting and photography).

Currently, my interests apart from my art is: keeping my body looking beautiful, Tarot readings (I charge!), traveling, spirituality, website maintenance (http://i.am/norm.yip), going to cool hip parties, bar-tending, thinking ways of making more money from what I do already, and the pursuance of truly satisfying Sex and ultimate Love.

On My Art
I am an artist/architect/photographer. My work/art is my passion, my joy and my sorrow. For me, drawing, painting and photography are my tools for expression. All three disciplines reveal a different part of me and of the environment surrounding me. My drawings tend to be introverted, dark, haunting while my paintings are freer and expansive, but nevertheless personal and withdrawn. Photography on the hand is more social, whereby the interaction between me and the subject combine to create a new vision, a new spirit that is contained on film.

On My Photography
Let's be highly unoriginal: photography is magic. It really is to me still. Whenever I head to the lab to see my slides or contact sheet, I still tremble with fear and excitement. I never really know what the outcome is going to be.

I consider myself to be versatile; I have photographed magazine covers, fashion, editorial, still-lifes, travel, theatre, portraits as well as nudes. For the most part however, I like photographing people. Every time I head out into streets or the studio, I try to capture the essence of the person; interaction and chemistry is most important. Sometimes I never get more than a few minutes to try to do that and the results can go either really well or really bad. For whatever reason (and I do thank the many Angels around me), I have been highly fortunate to have captured some very beautiful images to my surprise and joy.

On the technical side, I have actually a very basic knowledge of how the camera works. I took only one class on photography back in university days and the stuff I learned was nothing new to me. I owe my older brother credit for teaching me the basics on an old and heavy Ricoh camera.

For every assignment, I am mentally making notes on a whole host of ideas including the following: 1) lighting, 2) film speed and if there is a need to push, 3) color versus black and white, 4) the music (if were in the studio), 5) the room temperature, 6) the camera and lens selection, and 7) whatever else that comes into my mind. Somehow, it all comes together in the end.

My lighting setup at my shared paint/art studio is very basic: 2 screw-type floodlights on cheap rickety tripod stands - hardly professional I would say, but it suffices for now. I do not have strobes at this time. I also have a large 4 x 7 feet scrim that I assembled by hand to act as a light diffuser. In addition, a few large white canvases act as convenient reflectors. I do a lot of experimenting with lighting and angles - ladders come in very handy.