WHO TO FOLLOW: Gain a new perspective with @bui.watches
Ricardo SimeThere has been a common theme in the watch community as of late. The professional photographer, turned watch lover, turned watch photographer. It’s a progression that leads to amazing watch shots being blasted all over social media and one that I am all for. Because as more and more great photos are shared, the perspective and point of view of the photographer starts to shine through. A signature look becomes ever present and you start to follow that individual for that look. This is what I like so much about today’s follow. A person whose photos I can now spot from across the room. Say hello to @bui.watches
Vu Bui (pronounce Booee), the gentleman behind @bui.watches first crossed my path while on Clubhouse. He was a passionate individual with a worldly demeanor who loved photography. The stories he would tell and how he spoke about watches would always catch my attention. Enough so that, when I had the chance, I picked his brain for any advice I could get. And when he responded, the answers were never short.
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He would cover the question back and front. Paragraphs of information would spill out, with years of experience behind them. And though I would inevitably be left with more questions, his answers always left me viewing the issue from a perspective I had never thought of. With those experiences in mind, once it was decided that he would be this week’s Who To Follow, I had to know, how did he get into photography?
“I’ve been a photographer for most of my adult life, having picked up a camera as a teenager but really starting to be consumed by it in my early 20s.” he explains. “I had a job for a little while at a mall photo studio, and strangely enough that sparked my joy for portrait photography, which has been my main focus for the majority of the time I’ve been making pictures. I had a photography business with my brother in LA (aptly named The Bui Brothers), doing both photography and video. We took photos of a lot of the internet video celebrities of the time and shot a lot of video for many of the ‘stars’ of the wedding photography community.”
How about the interest in watches? Where did that come from?
“Like many people my age (I’m a very young 44 years old) I grew up wearing watches, and like many people I started with Casio digital watches. Without a watch you wouldn’t be able to come home for dinner or know what time to get to the bus for school!”
“Although I bought my first Swiss mechanical watch in 2011 I didn’t REALLY start to get into watches until 2014 after buying a Speedmaster Professional and an Explorer II Polar. Those watches really opened my eyes to a whole world of watches in a way I hadn’t known before. Where once my watches purely served to tell the time with a distant second job of complementing my style, now they became a centrepiece of not only my wardrobe but in how I presented myself to the world when I’d leave the house in the morning. Of course, that was all in my mind. I learned quickly that (especially at the time) no one cared about what was on my wrist. But that knowledge didn’t change how I felt when I’d put a watch on. Whether it was a Seagull chronograph or Nomos Orion or my trusty Rolex Explorer 2, I always loved what I was saying with the watch I was wearing.”
How did the two passions unite?
“Over time watches became just a regular part of my life, something I thought about every day but nothing I thought had any other purpose in my life. But when the pandemic came, I found a new way to enjoy them by taking photos of them and posting those photos to Instagram. And what started as a way to play around with lighting, composition and finding ways to make my watches look as good as possible, soon became the discovery of a thriving and wonderful community. I’ve made real friends through this community, and even though the current world situation has prevented me from meeting most of them, I don’t consider them any less close than other friends I have in my life.”
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As you can see, Vu’s story shares similarities to many photographers who found themselves looking to be inspired during the pandemic. Yet even with the similarities, what I find interesting is how they each bring something different to the fold. The sense of depth in Vu’s photos, the warm tones, along with the consistency of his shots are what I enjoy. It also doesn’t hurt that the subject in his shots are pretty tasty (his reflective shot of the SBGM221 above gets me every time).
If you find Vu’s photography interesting, definitely give @bui.watches a follow. He has also started a YouTube channel with his partner, Lydia Winters, where they make videos about watches and photography called Winters & Bui. Check that out as well.