Michael William Pauls Works Revolve around Current

Issues and Fashion World

BY POWER LUNCH
WRITING my second Power Lunch interview that was conducted in New York City, while Im back
in Kuala Lumpur for all of five days, was a little bit testing.

Is my interviewee a Malaysian? No, He was raised in the US Midwest and is now based in New
York. Is he running a Malaysian- based business? No, hes based mostly in the United States. So,
why him and how do I justify this? Quite simple, for two reasons. Firstly, Ive heard a lot lately
about changing perceptions, and it has been a broad generalization that the fashion industry can
be all glitz and no substance, so, hopefully, this article will shed a little light and open minds about
how fashion is not always one-dimensional, and it is unfair to assume that it always is.

Secondly, and more importantly, I personally feel that there are some quests in life that transcend
nationality, and that are important enough for us to highlight them.
My interviewee for this week is Michael William Paul, a gifted New York-based international
fashion and portrait photographer, who has also for the past 10 years been working as an
information and media consultant for various groups within the United Nations. With determined
effort he worked hard to support and bring awareness to the UN Millennium Developmental
Goals (www.un.org/millenniumgoals).

Photography and Economic Politics

Between hectic Fashion Week schedules William-Paul spoke to me at his midtown studio about
his career to date and the current projects hes involved in.
He has, in his capacity as a fashion photographer, shot international advertising campaigns for
various leading brands, and for numerous international fashion publications like Elle, Flare and
Harpers Bazaar, just to name a few.
Yet, he has also been part of projects that are seemingly in a different world altogether from
fashion. He has worked alongside heads of state from different governments and with groups in
the UN focused on humanitarian and world development projects.
I also have a photo project that Im working on right now that is an on-going collection of
womens portraits, and I hope to collect statements from the women who I have photographed
influential women, from celebrities to heads of states. I would like this project to help raise
awareness toward the UNs Millennium Developmental Goals of 2015, he said.
But, what exactly is an information and media consultant? And, how did it come to be that a
fashion photographer was recruited by the UN?
When asked about his beginnings and first involvement with the world outside of fashion,
William-Paul said, I did a big project in Russia in 1998 when I was still a student. It just so happens
the ruble crashed the year that I was there. It was only five or six years after the collapse of
communism. So, while I was studying there, I brought a bunch of cameras and created a television
documentary on transitional economics. I was there with graduate students, but I was an
undergraduate. I was filming it and got a lot of really good footage that I composed into a
television documentary. I interviewed members of the Duma (Russias lower house of
parliament), former communists, and American professors. I had a great mentor from my
university, Professor Sergei Plekhanov, guiding me along the way. So, that exhibition went on till

2001 and the opportunity really influenced my desire to want to get more involved in this work
officially, whether through journalism, photography or film.
And, from that exposure, in addition to shooting for the largest womens lecture series in North
America, which included personalities such as Jane Fonda and Maya Angelou, William-Paul
started his journey onward and upward.

He was initially recruited as a photographer.

After graduating university, I was working for an international organization in Brussels. I went
to a conference at the European Parliament for young entrepreneurs. I was invited to be a media
liaison and photographer at the 8th World Summit for Young Entrepreneurs, William-Paul said.
However, since those early days, he has taken bold steps to further his work and relations within
the international arena.
I work with international governments, commonwealths, the UN and other NGOs. Im not so
much a journalist, my work is more official people who have access are the governments,
special publications, historical documentation, and so on. I am often considered by others to be
more of an information and media consultant. As a consultant, youre collecting the information,
and trying to get something through, whatever you might be focused on at that time.
Many of the groups we work with are focused on economic development in developing
countries. I work on the interest of focusing on the purpose of particular assignments, or
advocacy or relating to the press.
Id studied political economics and comparative world politics, specifically focusing on countries
in transition. So, for me to get involved with groups or countries that are focusing on partnering
between themselves and, or between other alliances, makes sense for me, Im attracted to that.
Working closely with organization that are writing and developing the policies that are creating
the grassroots, empowering less developed countries, to create for themselves the things that
they need. Because, I do believe in the cause of development, he explained, stressing the
importance of realizing that there are issues out there that need to be promoted and supported.

William-Paul subsequently did work in China.

I was fortunate to sit on a panel of what they called eminent personalities. It was a big honor
for me to be invited. I was the official photographer, and travelled with a group of diplomats,
professors and other dignitaries. It was an honor and a privilege to be on a panel with eight other
such notable people.
At the time of that trip I was the youngest of the group, and it was a tremendous learning
experience, which helped me to really grow as a person, opening my eyes through such an
incredible opportunity, and I had great people around me. While in China we toured three of the
four municipal cities. We were in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. At the end of it all I was invited
back as an honorary citizen by the mayor of the Yangpu District in Shanghai.

Integrating
So how does he combine all of this with the fashion world? Can it even be combined?
And, having been involved with these matters, does he find his interest in the fashion industry
waning? William-Pauls sentiment seem to be that there is a lot to admire about the fashion
business, the flexibility, speed of expression and that it can reach a wide audience.
The aim is to express something in the over-saturated market place today of constant
information and content perhaps as a result of technology and an everybody can attitude. There
are some people that I admire in the fashion business and there are some artists that I think need
a little more time to evolve to truly find their voice.
Its a hard world to be different in these days, which may not be all bad. Maybe we have more
in common after all, but we should still search for originality, and not make everything a copy of
the last.
He admits that while trying to be a conscious active member of society, and also an artist, he
cannot neglect the world around him. In the airy Manhattan studio he grabs a couple of portfolios
off a shelf, and shows me a sample of his work, a magazine showcasing striking pictures of models
posed amid a protest scene, toting declarations against violence and injustice as they portray
sentiment during a fashion editorial that he directed in the middle of an actual protest.
He says: Thats what you can imagine for me, from an artists point of view how do I properly
translate this in my creative work? To have witnessed the shifts in support, from one side to the

other, see them come and go, see changes take place all around the world all from the front
row. How can I share and translate over 10 years and beyond through the visual photos Ive
collected and those I have yet to create? I mean, its academic history and its the history weve
yet to create.

Fashion meets global purpose

Michael William Paul has strived to involve the fashion community in global issues. He founded
Universal Models for Peace (www.universalmodelsforpeace.org) and is working on another
project called the Model Ambassador Project (MAP). The first of the projects that UMP was
involved in surrounded the International Economic Conference in West Africa. William-Paul
worked to create a program around the conference.
I was establishing a project for Universal Models for Peace, trying to find a way to blend the
fashion world with humanitarian causes. It focused on demonstrating how models, fashion
people, entertainment people and people in pop culture, can be a part of something and
contribute. Its meant to generate a desire for compassion, sharing and giving back, rather than
the competition model, which is so often encouraged as the main stream. Our next project is
focused on Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), a network
of over 800 parliamentarians in over 80 countries, and its global coordinator Alyn Ware. We are
collaborating with Universal Models for Peace on media projects attached to international
summits and UN events in an effort to highlight UN Millennium Development Goals and nuclear
disarmament.

Exactly what is the UMP group? And what is the Model Ambassador Program?
MAP is a program where participants can have an outline that focuses a protocol for getting
involved with UMP and to be able to get involved hands on. The idea is for them to have a chance
to take part and be heard at these major conferences. There are supermodels and actresses who
go in and say something related to their non-profit or cause. So, thats what were doing we
want to give a voice because, it is exciting and important.
Its to highlight other organizations related to the MDGs and to give them support through our
resources and networks. And, also to get our participants involved through advocacy and
outreach to shed light on these things, which are of importance to the world. Theres always
room to support. Theres room to take a stand on big issues. Thats what more people can do
these days. Everybody wants sustainability and ecofriendly homes. These are important things,
but, were still producing massive amounts of nuclear weapons, not to mention landmines and
cluster munitions. Theres a lot of things that we need to focus on, that we have to talk about,

before theres a big crisis, he shares, as he speaks passionately of the objectives of Universal
Models for Peace and the necessity for people to be willing to get themselves involved in world
issues. With that said, I wished him much support in his pursuits, and we drew our interview to a
close as he headed off to a meeting regarding his duties at the, then, upcoming UN General
Assembly.