The name ‘Filbert Kung’ rings a bell to the ears of Italian government officials, international models, and architects of grandiose. Beloved is he for his photographs of multicultural landscapes, telling stories of the ancient world.
Catch him if you can, Filbert is rarely in the same time zone for more than twenty-four hours. ‘Business Trip’ is a lifestyle for the world-traveled photographer, who just famously hosted his second solo exhibition in Milano. Kung’s portfolio exhibition, ‘Chronology of A Mind’, hosted guests of the Italian governance and figures of grand esteem from the architecture business industry. The artful display of images were housed at the illustrious BI.CI PROGETTI E ARREDAMENTO – a reveered interior design showroom in Milan specializing in the perfection of structural elements and expansive living. Word about Filbert’s arrival to Milan spread about through Italian magazines as the exhibition prepared to welcome aesthetes of Italia. Captured through vistas of time throughout Kung’s travels of the ancient world, each photographic memento is a reflection of a distinct moment, never to be repeated.
Filbert’s early days as a photographer began in the Philippines – as a child, his father was an international, freelance photographer. When Kung’s father would return from brief voyages across Asia, new portraits of his shots would be hung in the family home. Kung’s creative impulse was shaped since the days of his youth, making his decision to leave the Philippines for New York a marker of his love for creative expression. “When I first moved to The United States, I lived in New York to gain more freedom, living solo as a photographer,” said Kung. “NYC taught me how to turn the current of my emotions into ideas. Honoring my sensitivity helped me a tremendously with understanding my approach to creating art.”
Kung has spent the last two decades honing his artistic approach to photography, traveling to resplendent countries across every continent to honor the rich elements of each culture’s frame-work and distinct population. As he travels city by city, visiting various prefectures, districts, and evergreen regions – the emotive photographer shoots portraits that illuminate the beautiful miracles of life. By day, Filbert Kung is a journalistic photographer having his work published in prized publications, and displayed in showrooms across Italia. By evening, Filbert may be a guest at a dear friend’s sublime, upscale gathering. Then, by nightfall, Filbert is most likely at Tom Bradley International Airport, awaiting to board a thirty hour flight departing from Los Angeles to say, Bolivia. ”This year, I had the honor of shooting a campaign in Cape Town against the backdrop of the peninsula,” expressed Kung. “My vision for the Cape Town project was to impart on the world, a new standing point view of primitive African legacy. The story of this world can found in Africa – that is where I have found it.”
The revered photographer expressed that he was born with an innate love for the arts, having always been drawn to literature and music. “My exploration into the realm of art began through sketching and painting. There was even a time in my life where I wanted to shift my focus from art to becoming part of a band,” revealed Filbert. Kung expressed that, he just wanted to sing at the pitch of every possible octave, communicating to the world the contents within his artistically rampant mind. “I would envision myself becoming a rockstar. The strings have their own language and they scream ‘release!’. It was fun to dream, but I woke up one day to many epiphanies about other ways to discover being an experiential artist,” shared Kung.
Throughout the span of his career, Filbert has remained fascinated by sacred tribes around the world, observing their unique details. He derives muse from the fabrics that different cultures produce, connecting their creations to the vastness of their history. “I hold in my memory the details of how indigenous cultures live their lives, down to the textures of the clothing they wear and the foods they enjoy,” said Kung. “My creativity is ignited by every sacred land I have visited. My portfolio’s are a labyrinth maze of my vision being shaped by new people and places even though their origins are from the days of old, when the Earth had only just taken form.”
