A Semester-long Effort
Before I begin, a massive shoutout to USF Professor Jason Lazarus for being the GOAT and introducing me to the works of so many amazing fine art photographers, and to Forrest, USF's media cage manager, who allows me to bother him at really inopportune times to help me print out my best photos and rent out the "big dogs" of lighting equipment. This project would have never happened if I didn't decide to take just one more photography class before finishing my BA.
Also, another massive shoutout to my family, immediate and extended, who have allowed me to photograph them with such intense rawness. My Bà Ngoại is most excited out of everyone to see her face printed at such a large size!
A Little Bit of Backstory
Nhớ is, at its core, about the feeling of grief. I have big plans to move myself and my business to be with my fiancée in Australia, and there's just something about the anticipation of leaving your family and culture behind that cuts very deep. There is also the (obvious) grief of slowly losing my great grandmother to dementia, and very suddenly losing my cat Zucchini to an enlarged heart. This project is all about navigating those difficult feelings through the lens of my camera.
Inspirations and Methodology
Professor Lazarus showed our Intermediate Photography class the works of Juan Brenner and Deana Lawson, two photographers with very different styles, but whose ways of seeing their subjects and ways of explaining their thought processes made a massive impact on this project (seriously, look up their work). I also did a presentation in Professor Lazarus' class about famous street photographer, Daido Moriyama, (a quote of his lives on the front page of this website!) that has influenced the sort of rawness I seek to capture.
When shooting for this project, I don't think of the image that one would immediately find "beautiful" or explicitly meaningful. As a photographer, I seek to create meaning from the mundane. The way the karaoke microphones sit passively in their stands, waiting to be used. The texture of a sweater my Bà Ngoại crocheted for me leaning against the carved mahogany of our dining room chairs. The inside of a pot that has been used to cook delicious meals for years and years. The Boddhisatva that watches over our family altar with patience and grace. I dislike how much of a meaningless buzzword the word "presence" has become, but that is the approach I've taken towards this project. (Oh, and arming my one singular off camera flash like an athlete and holding it over my subjects so that it creates a spotlight effect, so editorial.)
Full Project Release
Nhớ will be complete around the beginning of December! This project was truly a very vulnerable labor of love, and I cannot wait to show everyone! I'm very grateful to my mother and grandparents for allowing me to unleash my creativity using their likenesses as my canvas. In the mean time, stay tuned!
