An October travel assignment for the New York Times travel section sent me to Sebasotpol for the day to photograph their eclectic food and arts scene.
These assignments are always really fun, but they can be super crazy and stressful as I'm usually running around with my shotlist photographing places and people under varies lighting conditions. I try to shoot indoors when its in the afternoon and outside places when the light is softer. Sometimes I have to be at two places at the same time as I'm trying to compete with time before the light falls. Its just hectic sometimes! But I always meet really cool people and discover new places, such as one of the best thrift stores I have ever been too, Aubergine.
Sebastopol is also home to some very creative people, and one of them is Patrick Amiot, whom is picture in my outtakes. I also want to thank his wife Brigitte Laurent for giving me a private tour of their home, Mr. Amiot for showing me his "studio," which is pretty much a very cool junkyard, and a photographer's paradise to photograph.
The town also has really incredible food. I was also lucky to photograph a farm (this was off the list but I really wanted to go) where most of the foods for dishes at the restaurant, Peter Lowell, are grown.
For the New York Times and Bay Citizen...what a great assignment and program for these kids. I shot this in early December. I hope that more schools will develop hands-on, creative and innovative programs to help give disadvantage kids opportunities such as this. I'll just let you read the story by Trey Bundy, whom I've worked with a few times, and is a fantastic reporter. Here's the lede of the story, "For decades, teachers and school districts have battled truancy, struggling to engage students who cope with economic hardship, community strife, domestic violence and drug abuse. Some students avoid school because they are not interested or because they are being bullied. But since 2008, in part because of programs like those at Downtown, the San Francisco district’s chronic truancy has dropped by 31 percent."
An assignment for the Wall Street Journal about San Francisco becoming the first big city in the U.S. with a minimum wage topping $10 an hour, on Jan. 1, 2012. I was assigned to photograph a clothing manufacturing factory in downtown San Francisco in an area that most folks don't go. In fact one construction worked asked if I was lost because I was trying to find the backdoor of this building. But inside the seamstresses were busy. It was a bit challenging because first the lighting was awful. The women were also really shy, and didnt speak english, but they were all sweet and we had many laughs as I'm sure I looked really silly to them trying to photography inconspicuously.
Last week I found myself back in the vineyards for an assignment about vineyard workers. I had forgotten how beautiful it is up there and how i miss working in this area, particularly doing stories around the migrant population and winemaking.
I was up real early to beat the approaching rain storm that would have cancelled any work that morning. Luckily it was only sprinkling and the storm gave me a an hour and half before it began to dump big drops of rain.
US immigration policy has become so complicated and upside down that politicians just can't figure out a more efficient system to allow migrants from Central America and Mexico work legally in the U.S. Although there is a work visa, H2A, the red tape and paper work make it very daunting and nearly impossible for any company to provide visas for their workers.
Many migrant workers would tell you simply that they would much rather work legally, although most from the Napa Valley pay income tax, and have a safer journey from Mexico then the dangerous crossing that they have been doing for decades. Many Americans complain that they take away jobs from citizens, but many of those same people refuse to work these jobs the migrants do. It is a complicated and emotional issue for both sides, but the Napa Valley has figured out a way to make it work for them and the multi-million dollar wine industry.
The other day I spent a few hours at Chinese American International School in San Francisco for the Wall Street Journal . The story was to illustrate how non-Asian parents are seeking Mandarin skills for their children during a time of rapid economic growth in China. The interest has caused an increase in enrollment at this private school, which maintains a competitive wait list making it one of the most difficult schools to get into. The student perspective was particulary interesting. One eighth grader said she didn't noticed she was any different until she began growing taller then her classmates. But other then that, its middle school life as usual.
At the school, I saw incredible Chinese paintings by students on the walls, I heard Mandarin and French (the school is shared with the French American students) in the hallways, and many half-Asian students that resembled myself. I grew up speaking Cantonese Chinese, which didn't last long once I entered grade school. My parents put my brother and I through Saturday School, which is like a Chinese cultural day program. We hated it. We missed our Saturday cartoons for a cold classroom. We also weren't completely fluent in Chinese, in addition to being painfully shy. But it was my mother's way of trying to integrate her culture into our American lives.
A recent assignment for the Wall Street Journal had me back in Silicon Valley but this time to photograph candid environmental portraits of the president of a neighborhood association.
The story follows the community's concerns about Facebook's relocation to Menlo Park and the needs for improved services in the neighborhood. Mr. Henry took me on a tour of his community's neighborhood, introduced me to seniors at the senior center, and then we closed up the assignment with a peek into campus where Facebook will move into.
Well here it is. I've been procrasting on posting my 2010 year in pictures because I've had such a hard time editing, but thanks to friend and photographer Kevin German who helped pretty much edited my selects from the year. And also because i've been absurdly obssesed with this particular song to go with the slideshow. For me, it sort of articulated the mood of this edit. I ended up having to cut it short, poor song, but in the end it really doesn't matter because its not about the song as it is about these pictures. Right? So if you are over it, go ahead and hit mute. Otherwise, the song is untitled, by an Icelandic band called Sigur Rós.
This is my second year working as a freelance photojournalist. It's been a year of tremendous growth in the way I photograph, what I look for, and opening my eyes up to see beyond the immediate. I especially thank my closest friends and mentors for the support and for pushing my vision. Without an agency, or a collective, or really even any proper marketing, I've managed to successfully obtain new clients, from assignment work to resales. While its great to have the support and annual get togethers, in my opinion, you don't have to be a part of a collective to make it as a photographer. You just need trusted friends, colleagues and mentors. And a home for your archive.
These 25 pictures are a cumulation of assigment and personal work. The resilency of these people i've met and photographed will always make me a stronger person. This year I continued my projects on addiction in Cambodia and Sharia law in Aceh. In Cambodia, I gained rare access to a drug detention center (or re-education center) that had been reported on for human rights abuses. I also had several incredible travel assignments from the NY Times, here in San Francisco, throughout wine country Northern California, Indonesia, and Cambodia. Foto8 featured a collaborative story on dam issues in the Mekong delta, and twice Slideluck Potshow DC selected two stories for their events.
My goal for 2011 is to refine the kind of photographer I want to be; telling stories about people and places affected by politics on a social level. I've always believed in the power of journalism, and the still image. I know that at the very least, it engages people into discussion. I prefer not to cover stories where there are dozens of photographers already there because other just-as-important stories go forgotten. And I don't have to travel (far) but I do, because these journeys have always been a part of my existence, since my first breath of life.
This is from a recent assignment on a teenager who suffered from tooth decay. she nearly died from an untreated tooth decay. she's recovered pretty well, but unfortunately, there are families out there who are unable to afford proper dental care. luckily she's recovered well and we wanted to show that. here's a clip from the new york times, and an outtake.
An assignment to photograph a story on magic tattoos brought me to a tattoo artist and champion heavy & middle weight boxers, and brothers, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I hired a translator/tuk tuk driver to help me out for these two shoots because they did not speak english. These tattoos are used as symbols, such as to bring protection, or courage, for boxers, soldiers, and businessmen. Women don't normally receive such tattoos. The designs are really intricate and quite interesting. And he offered to do one for me, which maybe next time i'll take him up on it. but probably on my back! The story on the brother boxers was interesting. Here are two champions, and their families, who were evicted by the government in a land-grabbing situation where either high-rises or middle class suburban-style homes will be built. Unfortunately this is all too common in Cambodia. Their home and boxing gym is about 30 min outside Phnom Penh, and they only have space to do it in the street of their residential subdivision. The story was about their tattoos, but I was also interested in their eviction. The elder brother was quite embarrassed that his boxing school takes place in a street and not in a proper gym like before.
I was disappointed to find that that two subjects i photographed for a new york times assignment a few months ago were cut from a story on foreclosed assisted living homes. Their stories were touching and I was touched to be a part of their story, to photograph a bit of their lives. But sometimes, depending on the shape and where the story goes, subjects do get cut. here on my blog i have an opportunity to share these pictures, even though they didn't make it to the newspaper. the first few images were taken of an elderly couple who had to move from the assisted living home, the following last images, because it foreclosed. The owner of the business struggled to keep it open for his clients, but the bank defeated his efforts and he was unfortunately no longer able to keep it functioning.
I recently photographed an assignment for the NY Times travel section in Indonesia, just a stone's throw from Singapore. i was so lucky to shoot this. Indonesia is one of my favorite places in the world, and there are so many hidden discoveries. I was fortunate to meet such great people during my time there. I am always surprised and thankful for the generosity of others to help me along the way and allow me into their lives and cultures.
It must be difficult to be an editor. I know that I have such a difficult time editing my own work. But I can't imagine doing the job of an editor, to narrow large edits to just a few pictures. Here are my outtakes, along with some of my favorites from the private resort island of Nikoi and the Tanjung Pinang, Bintan island, Indonesia.
Today I had an assignment to photograph vineyards of Lake County, Ca.. I forget how lucky I am to see such amazing landscape that the everyday person cannot. I bring back images from assignments that show the landscape of some beautiful private vineyard properties throughout the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Today, in Clear Lake, one of most spectacular geographical views I've seen in wine country will actually be open to the public later this spring (details to come with pictures). The land sits about the Anderson Marsh, with views of snow-capped mountains in the background, as you stand among sprouting vines. Sorry, can't show those pictures to you today, as I have to wait til publication, but here's a teaser! And in newspaper lingo, a teaser is just what it is, its the little picture at the top of the front page that tells you whats inside. So this is my teaser, an outtake.