Ian Teh

Photographer based in Malaysia. 2023 National Geographic Society grantee. 2021 & 2022 World Press Photo jury member and 2018 Pulitzer Center grantee.

11/08/2026

I’m in Bangkok scanning work from my archive at the point of posting! Excited to make give this work — long sold out and out of print — another breath of life!

Printed on museum‑grade paper from one of Italy’s oldest mills and published by Eyeshot, this limited edition will only be available online until Wed, 30 Sep 2026. After that, it’s gone for good.

More soon — stay tuned.

31/05/2026

I had the opportunity to taste Tuak — a Malaysian rice wine produced in small batches by emerging boutique brewers during my assignment for the Wine Enthusiast. Tasty, and it’s exciting to witness these developments here.

Thanks to for the assignment. Read the article online there by .

20/05/2026

Last day of an assignment in Langkawi with .desurmont for and also with and

11/05/2026

After 13 years of having my analogue archive kept in deep storage in London, I am finally reunited with them back in Kuala Lumpur!

Today’s task is to go through some of my older projects… for something on the horizon! Stay tuned :)

08/05/2026

I visited Farm Fresh in Malaysia and photographed CFO Mohd Khairul for a recent assignment for Businessweek:

“Soaring diesel prices in the US. Travel disruptions in Europe. Fertilizer shortages across Africa. A fuel squeeze in Asia. In addition to widespread loss of life and the destabilization of an entire region, the US and Israel’s war with Iran has triggered the worst energy shock in decades and set into motion shipping bottlenecks to rival those of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Thank you for the assignment.

06/05/2026

The Free Tree Society is playing a pivotal role in the Jalong Tinggi villages by establishing and managing the Korbu Perak Arboretum and Rainforest Centre. I had the opportunity to visit the forest where they worked with the local community to restore the woodland and plant the next generation of Dipterocarp and other native trees.

Thanks to the for the invitation to explore!

29/04/2026

More photos from our day out with Yuji Hirayama, world class rock climber and the first person ever to onsight an 8c. We went to Takun, an old haunt, and spent the day trying some classics.

Yesterday was the opening of the Asian Climbing Summit, with Yuji giving the opening speech. And this Friday and the weekend continues with Crank, a bouldering competition at Camp 5 Eco City. Routes have been set by our local and international star routesetters who have flown in.

26/04/2026

An outing at an old climbing haunt in Takun with Yuji Hirayama. Yuji climbs Safeguard, a sandbagged 7b+, which took my friends and me the better part of a month to send. He came, he cleaned (the dirty route), and conquered it like it was a warm-up — truly inspiring!

Special thanks to , , and for this wonderful day.

21/03/2026

A family plays in the river in Sungai Tua Forest Reserve.

(HELP! If the people in this photo recognise yourself — please get in touch! I lost your contact, and am not able to share the image with you as I had promised.)

Landsat maps from 1974 to today show worrying trends in the trajectory of Greater Kuala Lumpur’s development, much like other Southeast Asian urban centres such as Jakarta and Manila. However, unlike its counterparts, Greater Kuala Lumpur continues to possess vast areas of remarkably diverse forests, which serve as a crucial source of clean air while providing other critical ecological services in a highly urbanised environment.

13/02/2026

This morning’s shenanigans — an expose by Bloomberg on Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Agency:

“In the country of 1MDB, where billions of dollars were looted from a state fund and spent on a luxury yacht and Hollywood movies, the attempted takeover of a $12 million company sounds like no big deal. But when it’s carried out by a man brandishing a gun, and allegedly backed by the government agency that’s supposed to prevent graft, it shows that corruption persists in Malaysia — often upending people’s lives.”

For the portrait sessions, I'm humbled and honoured to meet the people in this story who continue to hold truth to power.

Thank you for the assignment, and Maria Wood.

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Kuala Lumpur

Website

http://www.ianteh.com/

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