Travel photography? Let's watch TV.

This is a series of satellites were taken on a discovery trip in China, Hainan. A collaboration with fellow teammates and the villagers, we create images using alternative lights.

As we set out to "capture" culture, we researched and we studied about the Li minority that have lived up in the mountains in Hainan for generations. We found records of tattooed faces of the women, the traditional adobe houses, dances and practices. We anticipated what we were about to see. Indeed, we did met a coupe of the tattooed women, we stayed beside them in similar houses of theirs (with much better facilities) and they dressed themselves up in their traditional costumes for photoshoots.

However, they were never the first things that captured my attention. The satellites did. As we zigged zagged through their houses, I noticed that.. their seemingly only entertainment was to watch tv and drink. They were sucked into the "window" of my world, the materialistic one as compared to their so seemed simpler one.

These satellites were "glorified" through this whole process of image making, symbolically about the power that technology possesses.

Nevertheless, this process of image making create an opportunity for the 2 cultures to meet.

The trip, for a couple of nights weren't about discovering ever-changing cultures and trying to preserve them, its about interaction and cultural exchange.

They questioned more than I asked.
I listened more than I heard.
I observed more than I snapped.
I understood more than I found.
They taught more than I thought.


新唐人


中央9台


宏观


大爱


華藏

海南。洪水村

When culture is a living thing, it is formed of the symbols, meanings, and behaviors of people. It is ever changing. Cultural traits are constantly weakened or enhanced when factors like technology, economics, politics and institutional ideas come into place. Therefore, in an attempt to preserve the unique culture of the Li Minorities, located in Hainan, China, Hongshui Village, it is hard to determine what really represents them.

Traditional costumes, dances or practices? None really are present in today’s context as capitalization and modernization takes place. When people subconsciously forsake their roots, yearning and striving for a better life, some aspects of their cultures are still present in the daily aspects in their lives, where habits, values, and way of thinking were formed and passed down. In this series of work, I wish for my audience to be able to understand and appreciate their way of life through the little details that we often neglect. What story lies behind a jar of preserved raw fish, what a kilogram of latex means to them, how about the ‘beautiful’ scars on their faces?

See it, feel it, understand it, appreciate it.

This work is created and represented in a book form, not only for the public to understand them, but also especially for the Li people to understand themselves better. I wanted it to be my gift for them for allowing me to appreciate their way of living and for them, a form of record of their memories, their past as they move forward, together with the rest of the world.

越南 :)

再次加油!!

This time round.. 到了 San Diego 加油。。
made a total of 30 seagulls.. 15 were given to people i met along the way in San Diego..
15 strangers who crossed my path, gave a part of themselves to me as I gave a part of me to them.
A simple note, a chewing gum, a homemade cookie, a friendly smile..

:D brought them 1 as they brought me tonnes..