Portfolio Jasmine LIM

BELONGING

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by jasmine lim

Prepared for Creative Documentary and Photojournalism with Magnum Photos and Speos Photography School, Class of 2021-2022

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-BELONGINGfollows Sasha’s life in Paris as she straddles her French and Chinese identities.

Sasha is a second generation immigrant and her family is from Wenzhou, China. I met her last year in Paris and was moved by her unwavering desire for authenticity.

While certainly French, Sasha also has a ierce longing to express her Chinese self. Her journey is one of tension and ambivalence, as she sifts through the contradictions between her identities to discern what is truly her own. These photographs explore Sasha’s quest for belonging.

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Being a child of immigrants shapes you in a shameful way. What my parents kept of their culture, the bits here and there that they latch on very strongly because those are the only things they are left with — traditions. With all these multiple pressures, I’m trying to build myself no matter what, trying to live and create a real identity of my own, to customise everything to it me. So sometimes I also latch onto everything Chinese, trying to reconnect with the motherland. I need to feel Chinese.

“ I identify with the diaspora experience the most. When I was younger, everything felt partial from the motherland. But in reality it’s not partial, it’s a new culture. I am part of the Wenzhou-nese diaspora of Paris in France. That is why I love the Maggi sauce on my rice. I converse in a mixed language between Wenzhou dialect, Mandarin and French with my parents. I can eat noodles in the morning but a kebab at lunch.

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Being Chinese and French, French and Chinese. I am now more con ident to say that I am both 100 percent. My identity is mixed, « métisse » as you would say in French though the connotations are not the same.

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BIO Jasmine took a year off her foreign service career to develop a documentary photography practice with Magnum Photos and Speos in Paris, France.

With photography, Jasmine is moved by questions of identity and belonging. She strives to translate these into pictures that speak to emotion and foster empathy.

IG @_jsmnlim URL https://j-lsh.com/ EMAIL jsmnlmsh@gmail.com

Creative Documentary and Photojournalism with Magnum Photos and Speos Photography School, Class of 2021-2022

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