We recently connected with Albert Hoang and have shared our conversation below.

Albert, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on was called “we live in eternity”: a personal project that culminated in my second solo show, exhibiting in July of last year. The show’s title is a reference to a lyric from one of my favourite musicians, Leif Vollebekk, whose discography is cinematic, visually stimulating, and emotional. By using the symbolism of select songs as narrative devices, it blended the mood of the track with storytelling that recreated and abstracted profound moments in my life.

I shot most of the work in the summer of 2025. It was the first project where the images I created came mostly from instinct, obeying my impulses, and meditating deeply on my life experiences. I don’t often bring my personal life explicitly into my photographs, but this demanded vulnerability and reflection from me. It also was an exercise in trusting my gut and just executing the idea. For one of the scenes, I booked a last minute plane ticket to British Colombia and drove over 5 hours to Tofino to photograph surfers. In another, I photographed my friend in a rainstorm. Each of these decisions felt natural. I’m grateful to this project because it really taught me to trust in my own capabilities.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Albert, but my friends call me Albs (which is also coincidentally my socials handle – @callmealbs). I’m a photo-based artist and have been freelancing for 6 years, shooting portraits, editorials, events, weddings and fine art. The camera is really a tool I use to express myself and make sense of the world around me, so I consider myself an artist first, photographer second. My practice centers on the romance of everyday life and capturing quiet, tender moments of connection between people. I try to carry this thesis with me into every project I do.

From a very young age, my parents tried getting me into an art. I was enrolled in all kinds of classes – dance, figure skating, painting, pastels, piano, voice, guitar – but nothing stuck. It was only until I took a Communications Technology class in grade 10 where I learned editing on Photoshop that I started becoming interested in images and storytelling. That turned into Yearbook class where I dabbled in photography, which turned into Cinema Studies in university, which turned into seriously pursuing a creative career after I finished school in 2019. After a few years working at a restaurant, then a commercial photo studio, I decided to take a leap of faith in 2024 and freelance full-time, betting on myself. It was the best decision I’ve ever made, and something I’m very proud of. Last year, I made real strides towards the fine art world – an industry I hope to grow in – and created meaningful personal work which resulted in the second solo show of my career.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to work through questions, ideas, and problems in my life through creating art. I find that making work is an emotional outlet for me, where the process of creation is both cathartic and clarifying. There is a sense of peace that I feel from executing an idea, or capturing an intimate moment in real life and infusing the image with my own emotional presence.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I believe that to have a thriving creative ecosystem which supports artists and creatives, the very first thing society needs is a baseline, sincere appreciation for the value of art and the labour of art-making. Art moves people. It encourages discussion, meditation, and making sense of the world around us. It provides reprieve from the machine of capitalism and brings communities together. When a foundation of appreciation is set, it allows for good faith discussions on creating culturally-rich towns and cities, housing affordability, collaboration, and government legislation that ties it all together. The work that artists and creatives do is important, which is exponentially true in the age of AI.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alberthoang.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/callmealbs

Image Credits

Billy Qian