Emma Nguyen

Emma Nguyen is a 1st-year Biology major on the Pre-Optometry track at the University of Oklahoma. Through her photography, she wants to capture people and their own stories.

interview by Anthony Nguyen

photography by Emma Nguyen

How did you get into photography?

Ok, this is going to sound really boring. Somebody asked me this on the way over here, and I started giving them the copy-paste answer. But if you ask almost any photographer, what they’d tell you is that they’ve always had an interest in it since childhood and it wasn’t until recently that they got really into photography. And lowkey, that’s kind of the same for me too.

But really what it stems from for me is my background in fine art. I had always painted a little bit as a child, because my mom really got me and my siblings into painting. And it kind of transitioned into more of an interest in digital art. What I really liked about photography was the ability to manipulate your subjects in real-time, and then being able to go back over that in post-processing with even finer control.

When you’re setting up a photo shoot, for instance, what does your creative process look like?

For me, I would usually start with a concept or an idea. It really helps if I go into something with a theme in mind. Then, I’ll want to scout out a location, check lighting, check how busy it’ll be at certain times during the day.

And especially if this is a styled shoot, I’ll want to look for someone who would be able to fit this specific theme that I’m shooting for. From there, I’ll communicate with them about wardrobe and hairstyling, and oh yeah, I’ll also make a mood board.

You've mentioned creative burnout as something you’ve had to experience. I know that people deal with it in different ways, but could you go more in-depth about how you approach creative burnout?

Honest answer, I don’t. I just sit around in my room. But when I was racking my brain for ideas for my “Becoming Asian American” project, one of the things that I really turned to was collecting inspiration from other photographers on Instagram. And this was when I really started getting into Pinterest. Just being able to collect those ideas and curate photos that I really enjoy and could replicate. I also really enjoy just jotting ideas down in my journal, whether it’s different outfits or just sketching. Being able to put that on paper and have something to look back, rather than having it floating in my mind and giving it that opportunity to slip away, really helps.

People often say, “A photo is worth a thousand words.” How do you approach storytelling as a photographer?

I think what we’ve been seeing is a new shift towards wanting to be able to tell stories in your photos, especially on social media. What I like to do, in a way to incorporate storytelling in photography, is going back to the idea of mood boards. Taking inspiration from other photographers. Then, on shoot, I’ll try to get my models in a comfortable position to be able to direct them with more natural or candid poses to create whatever story I want to tell.

A few years ago, you did a stylized photoshoot called “Becoming Asian American.” How did those storytelling elements play into that?

That was a project for my Senior Capstone in high school. “Becoming Asian American” was really the culmination of a series of interviews that I did with the Asian American students in my grade. There were about a dozen of us out of about 225. What I really wanted to know was what it felt like for them to grow up in these communities and how they felt connected to their culture, especially in an environment that doesn’t necessarily enhance their cultural experience.

And from there, I reflected on what they had told me, and what I really wanted to hone in on for the shoot was this feeling of nostalgia.

For me, especially, it was what I had felt in my childhood, like these little actions that my parents would incorporate into my life in an attempt to get me closer to my culture. Just going to the local Vietnamese Catholic Church, or even going to Sunday school, which I hated. I eventually stopped going, and that part kind of felt alienating to me.

Because going into high school, you have all these feeder schools, and some of those other feeder schools have more of a Vietnamese community. Whereas the elementary and middle schools I went to was predominantly white. Going into high school, I felt this disconnect, not only from my own culture but also from the community. I observed that other students already had known each other from previous years, and that’s also something I’ve noticed at OU as well. It’s really difficult to find yourself in that pre-established community.

And so, back in high school, what I really wanted to discover was what that connection meant to them. And what cultural ties, if there were any, influenced their outlook and perspective on life.

I see that you’ve been getting more involved within the Asian American community here at OU. For instance, I know you’re an intern with the Vietnamese Student Association. How has that helped you to reconnect with your culture and community?

Obviously, I don’t want to reiterate too much, but I had grown up mostly surrounded by a white community.

So that’s really where I felt most comfortable. The few Asian friends that I did have, I was not entirely connected to them, to say the least.

I had never been in a space or comfortable in a space where the majority of those people were Vietnamese. And so, coming to VSA was not really a goal of mine at the beginning of the year, but I had a friend who had told me about the intern program and I just decided to apply on a whim.

And in the beginning stages, it was kind of difficult because it’s an entirely different dynamic. Especially when you’re surrounded by people who have grown up in different circumstances and what really feels like a different culture. At the first General Body Meeting, everyone said their favorite food and they would say it in Vietnamese. What I said was “egg roll” because I didn’t know what anything else meant.

But what’s been really amazing about being with the executive team is that they’ve made an effort to not only be inclusive to me, but to be inclusive to the other members who I can see myself in, being disconnected from the community. And I think that’s been a really amazing experience.

In some of your recent photoshoots, “New Beginnings” and “Uncultured”, they were culturally rooted. How have your experiences with OU’s Asian American community influenced your decision to pursue these routes?

I think, overall, just that comfortability with working with these topics of culture and perceptions has really allowed me the creative comfortability to explore those topics. Especially being able to meet and to get to know other people in this community, who are able to work with me and collaborate with me on these topics that I don’t know if I would feel comfortable navigating on my own.

What does passion mean to you?

Passion means to me to be something that you find and you just know, in your heart, that it fits you. And it’s what you’ll enjoy doing, even if you’re not good at it at first. That there’s something in that hobby that turns into a passion, that drives you to want to continue working on it and keep building your skills.

I had a little bit of trouble with this. In the past two years, I really overworked myself creatively. And for a time, I had to take a hiatus from my photography work. I would repeatedly try to come back to it with styled shoots, but I would get into this rut where I would shoot and not really know what to do with the photos afterwards. I was in this editing rut where nothing felt good to me. Nothing really turned out the way that I wanted, and it takes either an outside creative force – like the magazine – or being able to work with someone really special to be able to reignite that passion.