I recently discovered Furious Photographers. They're a really talented group of young photographers. I love the versatility that I find in their work- from traditional, vintage, to contemporary and fashion look of their wedding photography!
Check out their blog: http://www.furiousphotographersblog.com/
I was also introduced to Jay Hsiang Photography. Their style is contemporary and very professional but less "experimental" or "edgy" than Furious Photographers.
Here is their blog: http://jay-studio.blogspot.com/
It's young but absolutely AMAZING photographers like them that inspires and motivates me to improve my craft everyday. I would love to one day be as good and original as them!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
So, last night I paid $20 to listen to a panel discussion on exploring the future of Asian American media as a part of a professional mixer hosted by APEX. It was actually a very interesting discussion because I found myself disagreeing with some of the comments made by the panelists. The panel included: Eric Olander, the VP of News Programming and Production at KSCI TV LA18; Bell Tsou, LA 18's chief entertainment and lifestyle reporter; Phil Yu, the creator and editor of AngryAsianMan.com, an Asian America news/culture blog, Carl Choi, CEO of Plan C Group, Inc. and manager of Far East Movement; and Steve Tao, who served as Senior VP of New Line Television and worked at VH1 as Senior VP of Programming. The panelists discussed the many factors that play a role in the promotion and hindrance of Asian American success in current media. I'm going to focus on Eric and Carl because I feel like they brought up some of the most controversial points.
Eric stated that the Asian American media had consistently failed in their attempt in various media (i.e. television, movies, magazine, etc.) because the word "Asian" is such a problematic term. Unlike Hispanic American or African American who are homogeneous within their subgroups and share commonalities in values, language, etc., "Asians" consists of too many different subgroups that do not share the same culture or language (i.e. Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipino, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean), and these Asian subgroups have absolutely nothing in common. So when you're developing a media catered towards "Asian Americans", what the hell does that mean? Who is it really for? AZN magazine failed after several years of publication because it tried to group all Asian ethnicity into one. How do you do that?! Do you write for the Vietnamese and Chinese community only? Then what about the others? The targeted audience was too wide and shared little similarities in interest, culture, and language that AZN was set for failure. I agree with Eric in that "Asian" is a very problematic term and Pan-Asianism does not exist. The only commonality that can unite Pan-Asian is that we're all humans from the Eastern Hemisphere of the world.
Then, Carl talked about how there's three types of Asians: the first generation (typically non-English speakers like our grandmothers or mothers), the second generation of Asians, the ABCs (probably includes some of us), and the third type of Asians- one he calls the 1.5 Asians- who were born in Asia but came to the states when they were young. Carl came to the states when he was 8-years-old and he said that sort of transition was the mainspring of a lot of confusion. You almost develop this middle child syndrome where you don't quite fit in with the complete FOBS, but you're not an ABC either. Carl stated that what sets Asians apart from other ethnicity is our lifestyle and our three selfs- the corporate man, the family man, and the party boy. Our lives are divided by work, family, and our social life. The engineering of our lives is what distinguishes us as "Asian". For example, (speaking from his Korean background), when Carl is at work he is the corporate English-speaking man, when he gets home he announces, "an-niyong-ha-say-yo", with a slight bow, and when he's out drinking and partying... well, he's out drinking and partying! In an attempt to define the term "Asian", he asked, "What do we do when we are in China? Yes, we go out drinking at a pub. What about Hong Kong? Where do your friends take you? Yes, drinking and partying." The point is anywhere you go in Asia, the lifestyle is the same and that's what defines us. I beg to differ. First, lifestyle is not defined by "Asian" or ethnicity but culture. Yes, Koreans would typically practice the Korean culture, the Japanese would practice their Japanese culture, so on and so forth. But since culture and ethnicity are not always tied as one, it's not a sure-fire assumption. In fact, it's unfair to assume that one is Chinese, so s/he must practice a Chinese lifestyle. Lifestyle can be adopted. That leads me to my next point: the drinking and partying behavior that Carl used to illustrate the "Asian lifestyle" is not only prominent in the Asian culture but in many others as well. Drinking and partying at night, no matter where you are, is a pretty universal practice within a certain social class. Europeans (Caucasians, Russians) and Americans (Canadians, Alaskans), probably all do the same thing! So, what sets the Asians apart as "Asians" when they drink and party?
Eric commented that one of the reasons why the Asian Americans have yet to succeed in media is because they lack originality and their work is not representative of the "Asian" ethnicity. He said that too many Asian stars are rapping, like African Americans, and aren't doing anything unique to their culture. There are two problems to this idea: 1) Whatever the technique or culture, it has to carry a quality content (as stated previously in the discussion by Carl). Quality content is relative and very subjective- often culture-based. The audience decides what's popular. So when an up-and-coming Asian artist fails, it may not necessarily be because he sucks, but rather his style is not aligned with what is deemed as popular in here. Or, s/he may just really suck. If you're going to immerse "Asian" music and style into popular "American" music, people will have to like it first! The audience has to be able to relate to the content or has to have a taste for your style! Now, that leads to the second point, which is also from Carl. 2) Korean rapper, Jin, was popular even among the African American community. People recognized him. When Virgin Records, full of Caucasians (not be racists here), decide that the public will like Jin dancing with voluptuous Hispanic/Latino girls in a music video... well, it's no wonder that Jin didn't make it very far into the American media. His first exposure to the American public was neither appealing nor interesting (unique) and it definitely wasn't a just portrayal of Jin's ethnic background. So, whose decisions ultimately decided that he wasn't going to be successful? Not the artist, that's for sure.
The panelist discussed many other aspects of Asian American identity and it's role in media today but these were the few that I really wanted to comment on. Please feel free to comment or disagree on anything I said, or if you were at the panel discussion I would love to hear your thoughts!
Eric stated that the Asian American media had consistently failed in their attempt in various media (i.e. television, movies, magazine, etc.) because the word "Asian" is such a problematic term. Unlike Hispanic American or African American who are homogeneous within their subgroups and share commonalities in values, language, etc., "Asians" consists of too many different subgroups that do not share the same culture or language (i.e. Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipino, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean), and these Asian subgroups have absolutely nothing in common. So when you're developing a media catered towards "Asian Americans", what the hell does that mean? Who is it really for? AZN magazine failed after several years of publication because it tried to group all Asian ethnicity into one. How do you do that?! Do you write for the Vietnamese and Chinese community only? Then what about the others? The targeted audience was too wide and shared little similarities in interest, culture, and language that AZN was set for failure. I agree with Eric in that "Asian" is a very problematic term and Pan-Asianism does not exist. The only commonality that can unite Pan-Asian is that we're all humans from the Eastern Hemisphere of the world.
Then, Carl talked about how there's three types of Asians: the first generation (typically non-English speakers like our grandmothers or mothers), the second generation of Asians, the ABCs (probably includes some of us), and the third type of Asians- one he calls the 1.5 Asians- who were born in Asia but came to the states when they were young. Carl came to the states when he was 8-years-old and he said that sort of transition was the mainspring of a lot of confusion. You almost develop this middle child syndrome where you don't quite fit in with the complete FOBS, but you're not an ABC either. Carl stated that what sets Asians apart from other ethnicity is our lifestyle and our three selfs- the corporate man, the family man, and the party boy. Our lives are divided by work, family, and our social life. The engineering of our lives is what distinguishes us as "Asian". For example, (speaking from his Korean background), when Carl is at work he is the corporate English-speaking man, when he gets home he announces, "an-niyong-ha-say-yo", with a slight bow, and when he's out drinking and partying... well, he's out drinking and partying! In an attempt to define the term "Asian", he asked, "What do we do when we are in China? Yes, we go out drinking at a pub. What about Hong Kong? Where do your friends take you? Yes, drinking and partying." The point is anywhere you go in Asia, the lifestyle is the same and that's what defines us. I beg to differ. First, lifestyle is not defined by "Asian" or ethnicity but culture. Yes, Koreans would typically practice the Korean culture, the Japanese would practice their Japanese culture, so on and so forth. But since culture and ethnicity are not always tied as one, it's not a sure-fire assumption. In fact, it's unfair to assume that one is Chinese, so s/he must practice a Chinese lifestyle. Lifestyle can be adopted. That leads me to my next point: the drinking and partying behavior that Carl used to illustrate the "Asian lifestyle" is not only prominent in the Asian culture but in many others as well. Drinking and partying at night, no matter where you are, is a pretty universal practice within a certain social class. Europeans (Caucasians, Russians) and Americans (Canadians, Alaskans), probably all do the same thing! So, what sets the Asians apart as "Asians" when they drink and party?
Eric commented that one of the reasons why the Asian Americans have yet to succeed in media is because they lack originality and their work is not representative of the "Asian" ethnicity. He said that too many Asian stars are rapping, like African Americans, and aren't doing anything unique to their culture. There are two problems to this idea: 1) Whatever the technique or culture, it has to carry a quality content (as stated previously in the discussion by Carl). Quality content is relative and very subjective- often culture-based. The audience decides what's popular. So when an up-and-coming Asian artist fails, it may not necessarily be because he sucks, but rather his style is not aligned with what is deemed as popular in here. Or, s/he may just really suck. If you're going to immerse "Asian" music and style into popular "American" music, people will have to like it first! The audience has to be able to relate to the content or has to have a taste for your style! Now, that leads to the second point, which is also from Carl. 2) Korean rapper, Jin, was popular even among the African American community. People recognized him. When Virgin Records, full of Caucasians (not be racists here), decide that the public will like Jin dancing with voluptuous Hispanic/Latino girls in a music video... well, it's no wonder that Jin didn't make it very far into the American media. His first exposure to the American public was neither appealing nor interesting (unique) and it definitely wasn't a just portrayal of Jin's ethnic background. So, whose decisions ultimately decided that he wasn't going to be successful? Not the artist, that's for sure.
The panelist discussed many other aspects of Asian American identity and it's role in media today but these were the few that I really wanted to comment on. Please feel free to comment or disagree on anything I said, or if you were at the panel discussion I would love to hear your thoughts!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
