Ismail Hashim was described as an everyman’s photographer and chronicler – one who did not go anywhere without a camera or two. A master in the alternative medium and celebrated for his hand-tinted technique, Ismail Hashim was the first Malaysian photographer-artist to be honoured with a retrospective exhibition hosted by the Penang State Art Gallery in 2010. He was a passionate academician who in his Twenties first taught at the Teachers’ Training College and the Federation School for the Deaf in Penang, which inspired him to become a qualified teacher and gain a certificate in Art Teaching from the Specialist Teachers’ Training Institute in Kuala Lumpur. He tragically passed away at 73 years of age after being involved in a motorcycle accident in Penang in 2013.