Asia Rising

2021
Photography, concept, artistic direction

Asia Rising was created in 2021, during a period of growing anti-Asian racism surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a series of frontal, carefully constructed portraits, the work places Asian faces unapologetically at the centre of the image.

The subjects meet the viewer's gaze rather than being passively observed, turning portraiture into a question of visibility, representation and agency. The series marked the beginning of a more conscious exploration of identity within my work, and of who gets to be seen, represented and remembered.