About
Leo Chen
Engineer by day · Photographer by compulsion
Engineer by day · Photographer by compulsion
Three countries made me.
One camera is how I
make sense of it.
Chinese roots, raised in Germany, landed in the Bay Area for college and never quite left. I work as an engineer. Photography is what I do when I want to stop thinking and just feel.
I picked up a camera in June 2025. Late starter, no formal training. Just a Fujifilm X100VI and a Canon AE-1 loaded with film. What pulled me in wasn't gear or technique. It was the art of noticing. The world is constantly putting on a show and most people are too distracted to catch it.
Growing up across three cultures gives you a strange kind of double vision. You're never fully inside any room you're standing in. Born in Germany, with a Chinese family that meant spending a lot of time going back and forth, then building a life in California. That kind of path teaches you to appreciate things differently, what you have and what you don't. I try to bring that into every frame.
Two cameras. One digital, one film. Between them, most situations are covered.
Fixed 23mm f/2 lens (35mm equivalent). Compact, silent, always with me. The film simulations are the whole point.
My go-to simulation. Muted, desaturated, slightly lifted shadows. Looks like a faded slide film. Timeless for street and travel.
Flat, filmic, low-contrast. I use this for landscape and golden hour work where I want that cinematic, washed-out quality.
The Everyday Sling. Over-engineered in the best way. Holds the camera, wallet, keys, a lens filter. Doesn't look like a camera bag.
My editing home base. I keep edits minimal. Mostly matching the film sim I shot in, pulling back oversharpening, nudging the tones warm.
The original. 35mm film, fully manual, no safety net. When I want to slow down and commit to a frame, this is the one I reach for.