Ismail Hashim (1940-2013) was born in Penang. Celebrated for his hand-tinted prints of the everyday, he was a pioneering figure in Malaysian art, and one of the earliest photographic artists in the region to experiment with different treatments and modes of presentation of the medium. He initially trained as a teacher and taught art at the Federation School for the Deaf in Penang. In 1972, he went to Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) to study Fine Arts before going on to gain a Masters with a specialisation in Graphic Design at the Washington State University, USA in 1979. When he returned to Malaysia, he returned to USM where he lectured in the visual arts department and eventually became the dean of Pusat Seni (Centre of the Arts). He was also a founding member of social reform movement Aliran, where he contributed various designs, including some of its magazine’s most iconic covers and its logo. He took part in the Asian Art Biennale (Bangladesh 1992), and the 1st Asia-Pacific Triennial, Brisbane (1993). In 2010, Hashim was the first photographer to be honoured with a retrospective exhibition at the Penang State Art Gallery and Museum. Following a tragic motorcycle accident in 2013, his works were celebrated posthumously through Unpack––Repack: A Tribute to Ismail Hashim (1940-2013) at The Whiteaways Arcade in Penang and National Visual Arts Gallery in Kuala Lumpur in 2015.