THE STREETS - Issue Fourteen

THE STREETS A

S t r e e t

P h o t o g r a p h y

M a g a z i n e

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"Uniformity is a poor substitute for unity."

– Aaron Niequist, The Eternal Current

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THE STREETS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Who is in THE STREETS

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EDITOR’S LETTER

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PERSPECTIVES 12 Adrian Whear 30 Eley 42 Black Formation 46 Paris wanderings

INTERSECTIONS 72 Brooklyn Etzel

122 Alejandra Bernal

92 Gail So

138 Rex Wong

104 Luis Felipe Mameri

NOT THE END 156 the conversation continues THE STREETS

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Who is in THE STREETS

"It's when I'm scared and uncomfortable that I make my best work." – Luis Mameri

"To me, imperfection and odd is beautiful."

– Gail So

"I have only just begun viewing myself as magic."

– Farai Mubaiwa

"I had to remind myself to put down the camera and just connect with people on a human level." – Adrian Whear

"I get excited at every corner."

– Alejandra Bernal " With my photography I want to build positive things. – Brooklyn Etzel "I never expected to be in this 'history'." – Rex Wong

"Paris has a way of enticing you into the fullness of the now."

– Meredith M Howard

Tony Maake

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"Everyone has a story that should be told." – Eley

Front cover photo Adrian Whear Back cover photo Meredith M Howard Editor and Creative Director Meredith M Howard Photography and Editorial Assistant Brooklyn Etzel Creative and Digital Assistant Eva Howard Contributors and collaborators Adrian Whear Stephanie Eley Farai Mubaiwa Tony Maake Meredith M Howard Brooklyn Etzel Gail So Luis Felipe Mameri Alejandra Bernal Rex Wong Website www.thestreetsmag.com Email info@thestreetsmag.com Instagram @thestreetsmagazine Publisher Meredith M Howard LLC ISSN 2476-0927

All work is copyrighted to the photographer, artist, or author.

No part of this magazine may be used without permission of THE STREETS.

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E D I T O R ’ S

L E T T E R

Paris

Pennsylvania

Japan China

Atlanta

Hong Kong Nepal

Laos

Brazil

Bangladesh Peru

South Africa

Australia

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azz finds creativity in the midst of the pressing together and the pulling apart of things. Tension is at the core of its creativity . . . Tension is living between what is and what should be. After all, jazz was produced by those who were "unfree in a free land".

– Robert Gelinas, Finding the Groove

This Issue might be our most diverse Issue yet with photographs from the far reaches of the globe. What is the connecting thread for photographs from Hong Kong, Laos, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Atlanta, Pennsylvania, and Paris? When I saw the colors and composition in Adrian Whear's photographs (on the cover and in the interview on page 12), I thought of jazz.

I thought of how jazz was born in America but developed out of influences from around the globe. I thought about how all of life is improvisation based on what you have learned in the past and a kind of "call and response" to what is happening around you. It also links our last Issue (with the theme of "Pain") in an interesting way – "Pain gave way to blues, and the blues gave way to jazz."1

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Robert Gelinas, Finding the Groove: Composing a Jazz-Shaped Faith (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009)

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Editor's Letter

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he accent is on the offbeat. You accent that which was always there but hasn't been heard.

Syncopation is not limited to musicians; it just requires an eye and ear for that which goes unnoticed and unheard in life." – Robert Gelinas, Finding the Groove Jazz brings you back to the moment with every unexpected note. I love listening to the studio recording session for Les Liasons Dangereuses in which Thelonius Monk is trying something so offbeat that the drummer can't keep up. You can hear Monk say, "Just keep on doin' that. I'll come in. . . . If it messes you up, just close your ears."1 Because he could hear something that nobody else could hear.

"Organized chaos" is how I've heard jazz called as an insult, but maybe that's why I like it. It feels like a real conversation. You never know exactly what's coming next. Sometimes you get into a great flow. But even with people that you've been jammin' with for a while, you can run into problems that you have to work out. In the recording I mentioned above, the rhythms sound as complicated as they are in real life and demonstrate that it often takes patient listening to see and hear what you don't notice at first.

Seeing what goes unnoticed in life is the one of the best aspects of street photography. Working on The Streets magazine draws me into what's going on in corners of the world that I don't normally notice – people working in brick factories in Bangladesh, people protesting in Hong Kong, people struggling against the remnants of apartheid in South Africa. Seeking out the unnoticed in the world helps me to learn from people who think differently from me so I can expand my repertoire.

When I look at these other cultures, I am fascinated by how they can sit in their tension – like how Hong Kongers can protest China's encroachment on their current freedom with the knowledge that in 2047 they will be under complete Chinese control. If they were American, they would be calling for a revolution. However, the Chinese have "Middle Way" thinking – "opposites in a paradox are not merely intertwined in a state of tension, but in fact constitute a state of wholeness.""2 Out of the tension comes a new way.

This week I read a story about a journalist who wandered into a jazz club one summer night in New York City in 2001. Wynton Marsalis was playing with the band and started on a dramatic, melancholy solo.

The audience was entranced until someone's cell phone went off. A man jumped up to take the call, and the audience started murmuring. The journalist wrote on a piece of paper – "MAGIC RUINED." But then Wynton played the exact notes the cell phone had played. Then he improvised and riffed on those notes.

And eventually, he tied it back into the original tune he had been playing to conclude the song to a roaring ovation.3 Wynton could have called out the man and his cell phone. He could have made a scene and refused to play.

Instead, he said, "I hear you . . . I can work with that."

- Meredith

1 Thelonius Monk, Les Liasons Dangereuses (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44SzPIHkWYk starting at 1 hour 7 minutes) 2 Ming-Jer Chen, Transcending Paradox: The Chinese "Middle Way" Perspective (Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 19, 179-199, 2002) 3 David Jadju, "Wynton's Blues," The Atlantic, March 2003 [https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/03/ wyntons-blues/302684]

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Photograph

by Meredith M Howard Photograph

by Meredith M Howard

Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives Perspectives THE STREETS

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Adrian Whear

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P h o t o g r a p h e r

ADRIAN WHEAR

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Adrian Whear

Where did you grow up and what were you and your family like when you were a child?

me on this trip. So I started to put into practice what I had observed from her over the years.

My childhood home was in 1970's/1980's Avondale Heights, an inner suburb in northwest Melbourne. My family was working class. Dad was a motor mechanic whilst Mum was full-time at home.

Family holidays were down the Surf Coast in the family caravan. Growing up, I was obsessed with sport even from a young age, in particular Australian rules football and cricket. I was not at all artistic in any of my endeavours. Like many people during that era, my exposure to the world and even Australia was really limited by what I saw on television.

My passion for street and travel photography further developed after joining Etienne Bosset for a photo walk around the picturesque Vietnamese town, Hoi An. A lot of what he said about documentary photography resonated with me.

Upon returning home I started to make the effort to go out and walk the streets and alleys of my hometown Melbourne and its inner suburbs, and in the process, I started to discover my home city's true soul. From there I just photographed whatever captured my attention, slowly forming an understanding, vision, and style for my photography.

I know this is cliché, but as a street photographer my aim is to capture an ordinary everyday scene but to show it in an extraordinary way.

What drives your desire to photograph?

Interesting question. I have not really considered this before. I will start by clarifying that I am not a street photographer who has followed the works of the renowned artists of the genre, nor have I completed any photography qualification. I am a mostly a self-taught amateur photographer. Photography was a natural extension of my love of travel.

My photography journey probably started in 2015 when I travelled through Ethiopia and Morocco on my own. My wife is an experienced amateur photographer but did not travel with

"My aim is to capture an ordinary everyday scene but to show it in an extraordinary way."

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Adrian Whear

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Adrian Whear

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Adrian Whear Have there been any unexpected turns in your life?

Well yes. Let me begin by saying that photography is not even my number one hobby. I am an extremely passionate and committed road cyclist. In April 2016, I went though every cyclists worst nightmare. On my commute home from my job at Monash University, I was hit by a car.

Thankfully I survived, but I did suffer some quite severe injuries, including fractures to my upper and mid mandible, seven lost teeth and many other damaged teeth. It took three years, three surgeries and a team of dental professionals (oral & maxillofacial surgeons, endodontists, prosthodontists and my trusted dentist) to heal my injuries.

It was after my second surgery that I decided I just needed a break from it all, so I decided that ten days in Hoi An would be good for my mental and physical well being. It's funny how things work out. If I had not had the accident, I might not have gone to Hoi An and met Etienne which led to my interest in street and travel photography.

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Adrian Whear

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Adrian Whear

Biswa Ijtema is the second largest congregation of Muslims after the Hajj. At the end of the event, a huge number of people need to return to their homes in the Bangladesh countryside. The trains are so overcrowded that many people travel on the roofs of the carriages. At the station near the Congress, it is not unusual to see people jumping between the overcrowded stationary trains.

Your travel photography is fantastic! Do you generally travel for work or pleasure?

Thank you kindly for your generous words. I travel for pleasure and experiences. I was so used to shooting street where my style is quite impersonal that I was initially overwhelmed by the sheer amount of photographic opportunities and chaos around me. As such, I shot very poorly on my first few days.

I had to make the mental shift from being a street photographer (author of my scene) to that of being a documentary photographer (narrator of my scene) and to be willing to move in much closer than I usually would to find my subjects' stories. Finding scenes to shoot was easy but composing them into a narrative story was challenging.

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"I had to be willing to move in much closer than I usually would to find my subjects' stories."

Adrian Whear

Bengali people are unloading barges of coal to fire the kilns at nearby brick factories. This is done by carrying heavy baskets of coal on their heads on narrow, unstable planks. Pay is per basket, so the more quickly a person works, the more they earn. I was told that the average salary in Bangladesh is approximately US$80 per month. In this picture I wanted to capture the scale of the scene by framing the layers within the legs of one of the many workers.

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Adrian Whear

A woman carries a load of sun-dried bricks into an outdoor kiln in one of the many brick factories in Bangladesh. I was captured by the vibrant colour of the textiles worn by the workers against the bland background and brutal reality of the scene.

Where do you live now, and what are some influences or factors that are converging in the culture there?

I still live in Melbourne, having moved only a short distance to the inner western suburbs. Melbourne's west has been its cultural melting pot. Avondale Heights had strong Italian, Greek, Maltese and Slavic influences, whilst the Footscray area has Vietnamese, Indian and, more recently, African (Ethiopian and Sudanese) populations. I have always loved being immersed in different cultures, experiencing their traditions, festivals, and food.

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What is the general spirit/feeling at the moment?

The current vibe in Australia is one of division, mainly around climate change and immigration. A rapidly expanding population putting pressure on the economy, infrastructure, housing, and law and order alongside the worldwide concern with terrorism and Islamaphobia has seen much debate around immigration. This is borne mostly from ignorance — people need to travel for their own first-hand experiences of these cultures and people and not just formulate their misguided views from an ever increasingly cynical media.

Adrian Whear

"People need to travel for their own first hand experiences and not just formulate their misguided views from an ever increasingly cynical media."

The working conditions are brutal, and the lives of the brick workers are invisible to most of the world. I wanted this picture to capture both of these realities. This is a brick worker in a factory outside of Kathmandu, Nepal.

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Adrian Whear

February in Bangladesh is chilli drying season. In the north, large areas become seas of red chillies drying in the warm sun. The women spend their days squatting and sorting through the chillies removing any "bad" ones. Again, I was captured by the colour of this scene and how beautiful it was visually in total contrast to the physical and mental exhaustion these women must endure.

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Adrian Whear

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Adrian Whear

What really interested or surprised you about these cultures? And what could we, who live in more industrialized countries, learn from them?

Bangladesh was one of the most incredible personal experiences of my life. The people are poor in economy but so rich and generous in spirit and soul.

Each day was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting. I felt so connected to the Bengali people that I wanted my photographs to represent them fairly and honestly. Their stories are mostly hidden from the majority of the western world. It is important for me to remember people are not exhibits. All people deserve to be treated respectfully. I hope I

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have achieved that with my work. Also, there were times I had to remind myself to put down the camera and just connect with people on a human level.

Whether that be joining in a game of cricket, sharing some milk tea with a group of men, or teaching young girls clapping games.

I will expand my response by adding that I have travelled to a number of countries with different cultures, to name a few: Ethiopia, Morocco, Vietnam, Cambodia, India and Bangladesh. Apart form the more obvious differences in dress, traditions and food, what stands out to me is how individualistic western culture has become in comparison to their culture of collectivism.

Adrian Whear

Two teenagers lift a vat of molten steel from its fiery pit in one of the many shipyards in Dhaka. The smelter area is a harsh environment for its workers. The atmosphere is oppressively hot and saturated in black toxic smoke. The workers are wearing no shoes, no protective clothing, and no respiratory protection. At Monash University, one of my positional responsibilities is to act as a safety officer. In Bangladesh, occupational health and safety is non-existent.

"The people are poor in economy but so rich and generous in spirit and soul."

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Adrian Whear

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Adrian Whear

"I had to remind myself to put down the camera and just connect with people on a human level."

Follow Adrian on Instagram @adtamo

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Eley

ELEY P h o t o g r a p h e r

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Eley

"Being a portrait photographer was in the stars for me."

Can you tell us a story from your childhood that encapsulates something essential about you or your background?

Being a portrait photographer was in the stars for me longer than I could connect it. It’s taken me years to connect my passion for image making – specifically portraiture – to a moment that took place when I was no older than 10. I was gifted a large coffee table book that was filled with travel photography.

I remember thumbing through and thinking, "Wow – so cool that someone gets to travel the world and take pictures for their job." I remember stopping on one spread in particular that depicted an African woman staring dead on. Her eyes were piercing yet welcoming, and her skin was a so dark that it almost shimmered tones of purple. This was the earliest moment that I can recall being infatuated with portraiture. The seed was planted.

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Eley

In this Issue we are talking about culture and influence. Can you tell us about some of the influences (bad or good) that helped shape who you are today?

I identify as African American, and I was raised in a predominately white community.

I remember being surprised when I went off to a college that had a heavy population of people of color. This forced me outside of my comfort zone by beginning to interact with other cultures and races – filling a personal void that I didn’t realize even existed.

This began my exploration of self-identity, and I began to question what other cultures I may have been ignorant to. Photography has provided a platform for me to continue this exploration and connect to other communities.

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Eley

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Eley

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Eley

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Eley

All of your photography is fantastic, but I’m particularly interested in your street portraits in the lower-income neighborhoods of Atlanta. What prompted you to set up a backdrop and take portraits on the street?

When I moved to Atlanta in 2012, a similar feeling of being the odd one out hit me.

This was my way of understanding who occupies the Atlanta communities and fed my urge to feel connected with those in the surrounding neighborhoods.

What did you expect when you started doing this?

I expected people to be skeptical and passive but for a handful of people to receive what I was doing well.

How did people respond to you and what did you learn through this process?

I was correct that both experiences happened. And was surprised by some of the stories that people were willing to share with me during our brief encounter with each other while I made their pictures.

"Everyone has a story that should be told."

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Eley

Can you tell us about someone who was particularly memorable?

One gentleman that made a high impression on me was pictured in the West End of Atlanta. He was homeless and heard from some of the other guys passing by that I was making pictures on the street. He approached me with tears in his eyes and asked if I would be willing to make his. I told him yes and asked him what was on his mind. He shared with me his story of how he ended up living on the streets, how he was train hopping and just trying to figure out how to "get his wings back." We only spent about 15 minutes together, but his story was impactful and I still wonder how he is today and if he ever found his angel wings. This is what keeps drawing me back to the streets to photograph.

Everyone has a story that should be told.

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Eley

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Eley

Have there been any unexpected turns in your life?

Unexpected change joins everyone at some point. If it’s personal or business I try to move with grace as it occurs as I’ve learned change welcomes growth.

What is your dream photography project?

My dream project would be to be hired as a travel photographer. Exploring the deep nooks of the globe in order to creating imagery about what ties us all together.

Examining humanity and connecting us through meaningful portraiture.

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Eley

Follow Eley on her website at eleyphoto.com and on Instagram @eley_photo

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Black Formation

BLACK FORMATION Photographs by Tony Maake Words by Farai Mubaiwa

Editor's note: The following words and photographs were originally published on August 9, 2019 in honor of National Women's Day in South Africa. On August 9, 1956, 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa to protest amendments to the pass laws requiring black women to carry a pass for her identification. Pass books were previously only required for black men. They chanted, "When you strike a woman, you strike a rock."

Continuing our theme of jazz, we see people who are living in the tension of celebrating their value while overcoming the lingering ramifications of apartheid. They are creating something new. In his book No Future Without Forgiveness, Desmond Tutu speaks about Ubuntu in which the greeting is "Sawubona" (I see you). "Ubuntu speaks of the very essence of being human . . . It is to say, 'My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.'" In her essay, Farai also speaks of Ubuntu in that a black African woman may be well acquainted with troubles but is both strong and kind. That is jazz.

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Black Formation

“To be woman and black is to be magic.”* Africa is young, black, and woman – with these very women making major contributions to Africa’s economic growth through farming, entrepreneurship, care and technology. Over the last few years, the continent has seen overall tangible improvements in the gap between men and women through government and civil society-led women empowerment initiatives such as equal access to primary education and gender mainstreaming in parliaments.

However, despite these advances, African women still face many barriers to political, economic, and social rights. These barriers hold not only African women back but also the economies that they are contributing towards. While we face these barriers, black African women still prevail. We still push and we still conquer. "To be woman and black is to be magic."

* Farai is quoting from "To Be Black and Woman and Alive" by Crystal Valentine and Aaliyah Jihad

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Black Formation

Black African Woman, where do you get your power? You have consistently led nations to liberation, despite history’s attempt to erase you.

Black African Woman, where do you get your power? You are denied decisionmaking power in corporates, and yet you still fight to lead?

Black African Woman, where do you get your power? You are told that professions like engineering and science are a man’s job, and yet you still enter the field, and rise amidst the challenges.

Black African Woman, where do you get your power? You carry households, neighbours and friends on your shoulders, and yet you are still committed to making the journey easier for those after you.

Black African Woman, where do you get your power? You walk kilometres every day to get water for your community, and yet you still stop to greet passers-by in the spirit of Ubuntu.

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Black Formation

Black African Woman, you are powerful and you are magical. And in this Women’s Month, my wish for you is threefold: 1. May you show yourself compassion.

You give so much to everyone else, and there is often little to give to yourself. May you feed your soul with the happiness, love, and kindness it deserves.

2. May you show love to other Black African women. We need to support each other in every sphere.

3. May the world be kinder to us.

We are exhausted of proving our worth every single day. May you know that you are worthy, and may the world recognise that, too.

I have only begun showing myself compassion. I have only begun recognising my power. And I have only just begun viewing myself as magic. May this video and photo series be a constant reminder of your power.

“My very existence is defiance . . .

To be woman and black is to be magic.”*

* Quote from "To Be Black and Woman and Alive" by Crystal Valentine and Aaliyah Jihad

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Black Formation

Lesego Legobane @thickleeyonce

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Black Formation

Follow Tony on Instagram @tonyshouz Follow Farai on Instagram @feminist_farai Follow Lesego @thickleeyonce

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Paris wanderings

by Meredith M Howard

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Paris wanderings

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his past summer, I spent a week in Paris with my husband.

I was looking forward to a vacation and was also hoping for some magical inspiration for future projects. We stayed on the Île de la Cité, an island in the middle of the Seine, where cafés line the streets and residents engage in lively pétanque matches until midnight. The local hustler showed up every day (wearing the same red shirt) to win money off unsuspecting young men. It looked like a scene from a movie. (In fact, several scenes from Midnight in Paris were filmed here.)

We had a lovely time, but to be honest, I was constantly surprised by the differences between Parisian culture and American culture. Maybe it was the pain in my broken foot that brought me back to reality with every step, but Paris was not exactly what I expected. Here is what I discovered . . .

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Paris wanderings

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Paris wanderings

We started off by walking to the Louvre, and the first thing we discovered is that in the summer, Paris has too many tourists.

Trop de touristes.

Almost every European city complains about this, but you get the strong feeling that Paris really doesn't like its tourists.

I understand. Neither do I. But being a tourist, it was hard to escape from myself.

I wanted to have a cinematic moment and sit on the steps where Gil waits for the taxi in Midnight in Paris, but they were already covered with people. Ah, to be able to do touristy things without all of the other tourists.

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This is what Paris does to its tourists.

Paris wanderings

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Paris wanderings

So, instead of hitting most of the major sights, we became flâneurs* and wandered, which is the purpose of Paris anyway. We left our apartment in the morning, and we did not return until sunset, which is oddly around 10pm in the summertime.

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* The term flâneur literally means "stroller" or "loafer" in French and was popularized as a concept by Baudelaire in the 19th century as a person who "has the ability to wander detached from society with no other purpose than to be an acute observer of society." [Wikepedia.org]

Paris wanderings

"Paris is a world meant to be seen by the walker alone, for only the pace of strolling can take in all the rich (if muted) detail."

– Edmund White, The Flâneur

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Paris wanderings

In the course of our wanderings, we discovered that Paris has more cafés than people. The cafés came in handy for frequent rests (and for the imbibing of a glass of wine or liquid chocolate), but the restaurants were also the source of a cultural disconnect for me. I am so used to chatty American waiters that much of the service in Paris felt cold. I wanted to engage with the waiters, and they were just trying to leave us alone.

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Paris wanderings The Parisian café culture entails lingering at a table for hours on end, and the waiters aren't working for tips. So, once you get your food, you might not ever see your waiter again.

(Notice how most of the glasses in these photos are empty.) Even though the service is leisurely, restaurants are not open all day. Many are only open from 11:00 until 2:00 and then again from 7:30 until 10:00. Due to our quick adoption of the flâneur lifestyle, we almost missed dinner the first night.

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Paris wanderings

Let's move on to the fashion of Paris – another surprise to me. I expected to see remarkable clothes wandering the streets of Paris, but what I found was classic and understated. The French pay attention to detail but do not like to stand out. Conservative. Never flashy.

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Paris wanderings I spotted a few colorful outfits, but I'm guessing that these were expats because that wasn't the norm. I felt very strong vibes from the Parisians when I wore anything outside of the normal protocol. When I wore Athleta track pants, I felt scorned by waiters. (Forgive me. We had just gotten off the plane.) When I wore a colorful striped skirt, I felt like everyone on the street was telling me to "tone it down." But when I wore a simple dress, shopkeepers spoke to me in French, which I took as a compliment.

It is as if they have a communal fashion police to keep everyone in line. (I confirmed these vibes with an American fashionista because my husband kept telling me, "I don't know what you're talking about.")

"Nearly half of all Parisians are content to appear neat and anonymous."

– Edmund White, The Flâneur

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Paris wanderings It was pretty easy to distinguish the French from the Americans, who were all wearing shorts or ripped jeans. A Parisian wouldn't be caught dead in either item – no matter how hot it gets.

Very French

French

Maybe French?

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Obviously Not French

(Originally, I thought she was French, but the baseball hat is making me think she is an American who pays close attention to fashion. This store is popular with the fashionistas.)

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Fortunately for me, Parisians seem to widely support the wearing of sneakers with everything – including dresses. This style choice fits into "their particular blend of artistic modishness and cultural conservatism"*and fit well with my broken foot.

French

Not French * The Flâneur, Edmund White

All French

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Paris wanderings

The other thing I noticed during our wanderings was that the French really know how to hang out – in couples, in groups, and alone. It's like time stands still for them. Parisians are never in a hurry . . .

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Paris wanderings

. . . Except when they are driving. Beware of the motorbikes and bicycles speeding every direction through rush hour traffic. One tourist who was brave enough to drive in Paris told us that the cars in the roundabouts have to yield to the cars entering the roundabouts, otherwise nobody would ever be able to enter. It looked chaotic, but I never saw an accident. An Indian tourist explained that it's because they are driving on "high alert" (as opposed to looking at their phones, as drivers are in America). We also learned that it is your level of confidence that stops traffic from hitting you in a crosswalk.

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Paris wanderings

So we wandered on foot through the city, which seems to go on forever. However, it never feels like a big city (probably because there is only one skyscraper). With cafés every few feet, the city feels small – small enough that you think you can grasp it. But Paris is as elusive as a cat, and the Parisians seem to be guarding their city with their sideways glances. I feel like it would take years for an outsider to really be accepted there – and maybe never. It makes me want to try.

(But I think one would have to act like one is not trying while trying really hard.)

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Paris wanderings

"The flâneur is in search of experience, not knowledge."

– Edmund White, The Flâneur

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Paris wanderings

"Americans are particularly ill-suited to be flâneurs. They're good at following books outlining architectural tours at Montparnasse or at visiting scenic spots outside Paris . . . but they are always driven by the urge towards selfimprovement."

– Edmund White, The Flâneur

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Paris wanderings

I went to Paris expecting to be "me" – just in a more picturesque setting. But I was presented with a different culture that stopped me in my tracks. As an American, I am often moving quickly and focused on what's next, but Paris has a way of enticing you into the fullness of the now. I came home, not with inspiration for my next project or grand visions for my future, but with a simple desire to spend more time with my family.

C'est la vie.

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Photo by Brooklyn Etzel Photograph by Brooklyn Etzel

INTERSECTIONS INTERSECTIONS INTERSECTIONS INTERSECTIONS INTERSECTIONS INTERSECTIONS INTERSECTIONS INTERSECTIONS INTERSECTIONS INTERSECTIONS INTERSECTIONS THE STREETS

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BROOKLYN ETZEL Photographs by Brooklyn Etzel Interview by Meredith M Howard

Meredith: First of all, I want to thank you for working with me on this issue and for being our Hong Kong connection. We have an amazing group of photographers in this issue who all have attended Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Hong Kong. I'm excited for the readers to get to see their different perspectives.

Brooklyn: Thank you for your support and interest in focusing on Hong Kong photography. It was a pleasure to collaborate with you.

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Meredith: We're going to get to Hong Kong in minute, but I want to start at the beginning. Where did you grow up and what were you like as a child?

Brooklyn: I grew up in a small town right outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I spent a lot time doing art and playing outside. I wasn’t really watching TV or doing anything like that, and I find it interesting that a lot my friends that I meet now are all about movies and TV and I’m like, "I know nothing of what you are talking about.”

Brooklyn Etzel

Meredith: Well, it's probably good that you were doing more creative things. I watched a ton of TV growing up and probably wasted a lot of time doing that. What kind of art were you doing as a kid?

Brooklyn: I started off with drawing and painting – 2D kind of artwork. My parents were really encouraging of the arts and signed me up for weekend art classes.

Meredith: Are either of your parents artists?

Brooklyn: No. They both have creative minds though. My dad’s an engineer and a good problem-solver. And my mom’s good at coming up with ideas and brainstorming.

Brooklyn: I don’t remember the year, but my dad got a good camera for his business, and I started playing around with it around the house taking random photos of things. My mom still laughs at this, but I used to open up cabinets and take a photo of what was inside the cabinet – just the bottles. You know, it tells a story. I realize that now. And I still do that. I take photos of things just as they are – messy or whatever – because it tells a story of who that person is and what has happened.

Meredith: Like your pictures of the dishes after people have finished eating.

Brooklyn: Yes – things that are left behind.

Meredith: I like idea people. So, when did you get your first camera?

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Meredith: Now, you are taking photography at SCAD. When did you decide that you wanted to go into photography as a career?

Brooklyn: I was really into photography in high school. I even visited SCAD just to look at it, but then I changed my mind and went to a different school that was also, ironically, in Atlanta.

The town that I grew up in doesn't offer many opportunities in the arts, so most people think there's no money in the arts and that you have to be a doctor or to go into business to be successful. I thought, "Maybe they're right."

I still moved to Atlanta and studied biopsychology at a chiropractic school . . . but it just wasn’t my passion. My friend, God bless her, I was studying with her, and she said, "I need to be really honest with you. You shouldn’t be doing this. You should obviously be going to art school.” And that was it. I applied the next day.

Brooklyn: It was. She means the world to me.

So, I decided to go to SCAD. But even in that I didn’t know if I wanted to do photography because I didn’t know if there’s money in this. I was trying not to let other people’s opinions get to me, but they did kind of get to me. At SCAD I was trying different things. I enjoy graphic design, but it’s not my strong suit. Interiors is fun, but I don’t know if I could do it forever. I’ve always liked photography. Last year, I went to Hong Kong for one quarter before I was in photography and one friend I had there said, “Do you realize you take photos like all the time?

You’re a photographer at heart.” And I said, “ I guess maybe you’re right.” When I had to choose a major, I said, “Alright, I’ll do photography.”

So honestly, Hong Kong really started my photography. It’s where I really dove into my work and found what I want to say with it.

Meredith: That was so nice of her.

"You’re a photographer at heart."

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Brooklyn Etzel Meredith: You were in Hong Kong for the past year?

Brooklyn: Yes. Meredith: What made you decide that you wanted to go for a whole year?

Brooklyn: When I was there that first quarter when I wasn’t in photography, I loved the city. There was something about it that I thought, "I need to get more.” I was able to get all of the classes lined up. I actually just wanted to go for one more quarter, but that turned into another one and another one. I would totally go back, but there are no more classes that I could take.

Meredith: Oh really?

Brooklyn: Yeah, I would have totally graduated from there. It’s the perfect playground for photography. Everywhere you walk, there’s potential subject matter.

Meredith: What is interesting to you over there that is different from here?

Brooklyn: There’s just a lot more people in Hong Kong. And you can walk around easier. Whereas here you have to park and then walk and then drive somewhere else. There you can just walk, walk, walk all day and find so many things to photograph. I also felt like the city had more layers to it just because it’s been there for much longer than Atlanta has.

Meredith: If you take someone’s photograph on the street in Hong Kong, how do they respond to you?

Brooklyn: It depends on the person. There are a lot of people interested in photography in Hong Kong. There are a lot of tourists, so cameras are normal for people to see. They will either ignore you or they will yell at you.

Meredith: Oh, really?

Brooklyn: Yeah, I kind of got yelled at a couple of times. But I would just pretend, “Oh, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” and walk away. That was one easy thing. You could kind of blend in and hide yourself. Whereas in other places it’s more like – “They’re going to see me take a photo of them. I can’t even pretend to sneak it.”

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"It’s the perfect playground for photography."

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Meredith: How hard was it to acclimate to living there?

Brooklyn: Well, I had never taken public transportation before.

In America, I had always used my car. So I asked a friend, "Can you come with me to help me figure this out?” But then after a few times, I got the hang of it, and it was pretty easy. It was really freeing as well.

Otherwise, culturally, the language for example, English is spoken relatively everywhere, and even if not, if you speak "human" with the person and you’re fine.

Meredith: After being in Hong Kong, the other day when you and I went to photograph in downtown Atlanta, how was that different from being in Hong Kong?

Brooklyn: I found that there was a lot less to photograph – at least for what I’m interested in. My hobby subject matter seems to act as a study of humanity, and when the photos are

viewed together in a series, they touch upon abstract concepts.

So I really enjoy exploring and photographing areas where there are a lot of people and activity. In Hong Kong, there’s so many people and they take up every inch of the city, whereas in Atlanta it’s more spread out. In Hong Kong, there’s markets, there’s parks, there’s restaurants on the side of the street – literally something around every corner.

"There's literally something around every corner."

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Meredith: Generally, it seems Americans are more focused on the individual and Asian cultures seem more family-minded and community-minded. Did you find that to be true?

Brooklyn: Yeah, that’s probably a good description.

Meredith: Do you think the younger people in Asia are still like that?

Brooklyn: Well, there's this fishing village in Hong Kong, and there are reports that all the younger people are leaving because they don’t want to do that anymore. So I guess there are spots of that, but I don’t really know if I can speak generally.

I do know that the younger generations seem to be pretty open to more possibilities.

Another thing I noticed, I feel like everyone in America is in everyone else’s business. For example, if I were to pass

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someone on the street, it's like – “What is that person doing?”

In Hong Kong, everyone is in their own little world. They won’t bother you. They won’t look at you. But here in Atlanta, even at a stoplight, people look to see who’s sitting in the car beside them. In Hong Kong, they just look straight ahead. I really appreciate the privacy and respect.

Meredith: What is the most interesting class that you’ve taken so far at SCAD? Brooklyn: Probably "Developing the Photographic Aesthetic," because the entire 10 weeks we worked on one project. I started off kind of broad and narrowed it down deeper because I was photographing the same subject for 10 weeks in row. I want to continue this series into the future with my travels.

Meredith: Which project is that?

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Brooklyn Etzel

Brooklyn: It was about the food process and how everything is related. It was a study of the food system in Hong Kong that extended into diptych studies. The pairs show that whether it is cleaning the fresh fish or the remnants of a meal on dirty dishes, it’s all the same matter.

Meredith: Your project is still not finished?

Brooklyn: Yeah, I want to continue photographing the unique food cultures around the world to really play with the universal law of how nothing is created nor destroyed. So, right now I’m accumulating a lot of photos.

Meredith: Do you think you would be more interested in some sort of documentary style of photography?

Brooklyn: Yes, definitely documentary. Even my more fine art photos are documentary based.

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Meredith: What motivates you to continue to photograph?

Brooklyn: Honestly, the whole process. I love the way the camera feels in my hand. I just love that feeling. And also taking the photo, if I’m just an inch up or down or over, it can totally change the whole composition, so it’s fun to experiment. I also find great joy in reliving the captured moments when editing and piecing them together to create a series. But I think the greatest joy is to share the photos with others.

Meredith: Do you enjoy the taking of the photograph or the selecting and editing more?

Brooklyn: Probably the taking, but I truly do find joy in sequencing and pulling it all together and looking at what the photos are telling me.

Brooklyn Etzel

"Whether it is cleaning the fresh fish or the remnants of a meal on dirty dishes, it’s all the same matter."

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Brooklyn Etzel Meredith: After finishing up in Hong Kong, did you come to Atlanta or did you go straight to Peru?

Brooklyn: I came back, unpacked, and packed the next day. I pretty much went straight to Peru. That culture shock was pretty intense too. In Hong Kong, I could go out and explore by myself, but in Peru I had to be with someone at all times. In the market, I had to have people on all sides of me to make sure that no one would like come up and take my camera.

The area I was staying in was one of the most dangerous areas in Lima, so I had to be extra careful.

Meredith: How long were you there?

Brooklyn: Ten days.

Meredith: What is the name of the organization that you went with?

Brooklyn: Make a Miracle, which was started by the Canoose family.

They’re from Atlanta. I went to school with their daughter. She did a mission trip there and enjoyed it. Then her family went, and their trip inspired them to start their own non-profit. Today they build homes, create community centers, interact with some local schools, and work with other non-profits doing work in the area. They also want to start taking care of stray dogs – feeding them, vaccinating them, neutering them.

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Brooklyn Etzel

"What you focus on, you’re literally preserving when you hit the shutter."

Meredith: Do you enjoy photographing with non-profit organizations?

Brooklyn: That’s in the realm of my ideal job – working for humanitarian groups and photographing for them. Deep in my heart, I believe what you focus on – not just in your everyday mindset, but even with your camera's frame– you’re literally preserving that when you hit the shutter.

So you need to be careful what you focus on because that’s what you are going to embrace. With my photography I want to build positive things. These groups are doing positive work for the world, and I want to promote that. This expands into my personal projects. For example, right now I am working on documenting some processes within the food system in America. I could approach this by photographing all the bad things about the food, but instead, I’m going to focus on the answer – what we need to be embracing. That’s why I want to focus more on the humanitarian groups and help them promote their work.

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Meredith: Lately in the news I’ve been seeing protests going on in Hong Kong. Was that going on while you were there?

Brooklyn: No, it started the day after I left. It’s almost like I wasn’t supposed to be there. But I kind of wish I could have seen that. I would have definitely documented the events. But it’s okay. My other friends can document it.

Meredith: Rex [interviewed on page 138] had a video of the first day of the protests and people were just quietly walking.

It looked very peaceful. When I pulled up the news today, it seems like it’s getting more dangerous – like people were trying to block the trains and they were arresting people. Did anyone talk about that while you were there?

Brooklyn: No, not at all. So when I saw it on the news back in USA, I was like, “What’s going on?” But I also don’t normally keep up with the news.

Meredith: You still don’t watch TV? Brooklyn: No, I have other things to do. But if I do, it's usually a documentary or film where I learn something.

Meredith: That’s probably good. I feel like because everything’s so available, people watch so much because you can watch the whole series at once.

Brooklyn: Oh, I’ve done that before. I have days when I don’t do anything. Definitely. But I feel like my distance from media

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might also have an impact on my photography. Like I don’t have a lot of other people’s viewpoints influencing my own viewpoint, so that kind of helps keep my photography true to who I am versus – “I’m taking this because I’ve seen someone else do it,” or “They talk about something in this movie so I’m going to touch on that concept.”

Meredith: One of your series is titled "Concrete Jungle." Can you talk about that a little?

Brooklyn: Before I traveled to Hong Kong, I initially knew of it to be a city, but I didn't realize it was very tropical there, too.

I was really taken back by seeing the greenery all around the city. And the animals. There's this one bird that comes out in the summer that makes this one very distinct caw, and you just don't expect to hear that in a typical city, you know? And then just going through all the streets and markets, I realized that it's its own ecosystem in itself.

Meredith: And the bamboo scaffolding – I've never seen that before. Is that safe or do you hear about people getting hurt on that?

Brooklyn: No, I didn’t hear about anyone getting hurt, but it’s everywhere. That’s what they use. They don’t use the metal scaffolding. You see a modern building and they’re using bamboo scaffolding.

Meredith: That’s fascinating.

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Meredith: In one of your Instagram posts about Hong Kong, you said, "I've never felt more at home, yet I've never been more homesick." What did you mean by that?

Brooklyn: Well, I was away from the United States, my home culture, for almost a year. This was the longest time I had been away from my family and friends. I was so grateful that technology allowed us to communicate from the other side of the plane. I still missed elements of the US; however, in Hong Kong, I felt like I became more independent. I felt free to be myself.

I also had the opportunity, as a street photographer, to really get to know the different areas of the city – maybe more so than someone else that might visit for a short time. I had the time and the motivation to go out and explore. I would go down every single alley – just mapping the streets – because you never know what you'd find.

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"I would go down every single alley – just mapping the streets – because you never know what you'd find."

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Follow Brooklyn on Instagram @be.photo.documentary

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GAIL SO P h o t o g r a p h e r

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Gail So

Can you describe your childhood? Where did you grow up, what was the experience like, and what were you like as a young child? How is living on Hong Kong Island different than living on the mainland?

When I was younger, I was a rather shy and insecure kid. Never really liked to open up to people, and became super anxious when meeting new people. But as I grew a bit older, things changed. I became quite rebellious, gone missing a couple of times, and did not have the best relationship with my family. But thankfully, going back and forth, I studied in the United Kingdom (Belfast and Liverpool) for a few years. I met some great people and experienced some wholly different cultures.

I have never lived in the mainland, so I cannot really speak for that, yet I have travelled there a number of times. I would say Hong Kong is much more international and diverse.

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Gail So

How did you get into photography and what drives your desire to photograph?

When I was a child, I got the privilege to travel from time to time. Dad always loved to take numerous photos of us during our vacations, and I would always ask to borrow his camera to take pictures of him and my mom. Afterwards, whenever we came back from every trip, I would go to his office on Sundays, and look at him editing on an oldschool photo editing application, and it was like magic to me at that time.

As I grew older, I had actually decided to do psychology for my major in college, yet one day I just felt like I could not give up on art just like that. So I just changed my personal statement, and submitted my applications at the very last minute. Until I got accepted into SCAD, I still wasn’t sure what major I should choose. I was struggling between painting and photography. However, on one of my birthdays during the first two college years, I had experienced a lot of emotional upsets, and in fact had one of the worst nights before my birthday. The next day, my dad had decided to cheer me up and had placed a camera on my bed. That was kind of my first DSLR camera.

I remember coming home and looking at that camera, eyes getting teary, and was able to leave all the negativity behind. That’s how I started taking even more pictures, and I have decided to major in photography. I always feel like I am not the best at expressing through words, yet through photos, I feel the most comfortable to show this world of mine.

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What do you think influences your style of photography, and what ideas are you trying to explore with your photography (specifically the photos of the “aliens” and “ani-men”)?

I have never thought of falling in love with post-production at all. During the first year of college, I remember the first time when we needed to use Photoshop for one of the classes, I struggled so much with it, I couldn’t even remember the step of copy and paste in Photoshop. I was complaining and said I would never really want to use Photoshop anymore . . . until I took a class of Photoshop for photography. I have to thank my professor for teaching an excellent class. I fell in love with Photoshop, especially after creating a collage assignment. I just felt like you can do so much with Photoshop – being able to combine so many other elements with photos. As I am more into Photoshop, I started to explore more. Especially during those couple of years, I was at my very low stages of my life, that I would spend so much time locking myself in my room. So I would use those times to look at tutorials and websites to learn more about post-productions and surreal photography. During these recent years, as I am recovering, I am trying to create surreal photos not only using Photoshop, but also to get them done in frames along with props.

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The reason why I like to do most of pictures around the topics of alienation and surrealism is because I feel like from where I was raised – Hong Kong – people tend to be kind of afraid to stand out. To me, imperfection and "odd" is beautiful, but for some reason, the people here seem to be blindly chasing after perfection and striving to fit in. I feel like this world nowadays sometimes is just lacking creativity and imagination.

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Gail So

What do you find photographically interesting about Hong Kong physically and conceptually?

Hong Kong is an ever-evolving place. A small city, yet, there is always so much happening, and it is full of surprises. A city that is splashed with colors, and also with so many facets, such as old pastel buildings, modern high-rise buildings, dark alleys with neon lights shining bright; and as it is considered a rather international city, having the diverse nature and environment makes it more interesting, too. Just by crossing the harbour, you can photograph a whole other atmosphere of things.

Personally, I like to wander around during nighttime in Hong Kong. I am always more drawn to nighttime, neon lights, and mysterious places. Or I like to shoot at places that I am more attached to in Hong Kong.

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Gail So

What are your thoughts about the current protests in Hong Kong? What do you think the outcome of the protests will be?

It’s absolutely devastating to see, as Hong Kong has always been a home to me. I am not sure about the outcome of the protest too, but will just keep praying for the best.

Since many of your photographs explore conceptual ideas, how do you think your photography will be affected in the future when Hong Kong reverts back to the Chinese control?

I feel like whether and when Hong Kong will revert to China or not, I will still be sticking with my photography style. My only desire with photography is always to sprinkle the world with a bit of extra creativity and hoping to help by being able to spread messages through pictures.

Follow Gail on Instagram @gail.so

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Luis Felipe Mameri

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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Luis Felipe Mameri P h o t o g r a p h e r

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Luis Felipe Mameri

A

conversation between Luis Mameri, Brooklyn Etzel, and Meredith M Howard:

Luis: Every time I get stuck, I go somewhere, and then it gives me the answer to where I’m supposed to go next. I get there “clueless” and something happens and I’m like, “Oh, that way.”

I feel like it gives me, not a blueprint, but . . .

Brooklyn: A little clarity?

Luis: A little clarity for like a month. It’s like a check-point. From here to here to here. I feel like that’s how my life works. It’s a lot of anxiety, but then things happen that clear the way. I feel like that’s how I structure my life. It drives my parents crazy.

Meredith: Where did you grow up and how would you describe your childhood?

Luis: I was born in Quito, Ecuador, but I have spent the entirety

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of my life traveling the world. Ecuador, Angola, Brazil and the United States are just a few places I call home. I most often feel as if my upbringing has riddled me with a sense of ambiguity and lack of identity. I think it is because of this that I have this painful awareness that things change and will eventually fade away, especially moments of beauty.

I would describe my childhood as naïve. Academic performance was never a priority for me because we were traveling all the time. I always saw education as superfluous and subject to change. What I became interested in was the development and externalization of my thoughts and feelings through the creation of short films and photographs. I always existed in my own little world. This yearning and desire to create and navigate the way I see the world seems to be a motif wherever I go.

Luis Felipe Mameri

"Every time I get stuck, I go somewhere, and then it gives me the answer to where I’m supposed to go next."

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Meredith: How do you think living in different cultures has affected your vision and work?

Luis: Every time I look into my past in an attempt to understand myself, it seems I always leave with more questions than I do answers. However, the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that these countries somehow hold an answer to why I am the way I am and why I see things the way I do.

I think I've always had a sweet and fragile way of looking at the world. In my head, things always mean something – something beautiful. I think that after being subject to so much change I was able to find common threads no matter where I went.

Constant things no matter how small: True smiles always mean the same thing, true whispers always mean the same thing, a kiss, a touch, a cry, they always mean the same thing. They reveal the transcendent importance of relationships. They reveal the valuable, ineffable, intangible magic that exists between us.

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Yangshao, China

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Meredith: What do you like about photography?

Luis: Photography, if applied correctly, can be an excuse to live. An excuse to see and interact with the world. Photography is a testimony of the things you've seen, the people you have met and the beauty you’ve witnessed. It's proof that you once lived.

Despite having traveled the world at such a young age, I still feel like I’ve seen very little of it. These people that come and go, they fascinate me. I try to photograph the many faces of the world in an attempt to uncover the human condition. Everything is subject to end, so why not immortalize the fact that they once were?

To me, emotions have always been a great gift – things that exist far beyond the realm of reason. To experience them, to navigate them, and dance with them has always been something that has interested me beyond anything else. I ask myself – What does love look like? If beauty were to have a face, whose face would it be? If grace were to live anywhere, where could I go to see it?

Meredith: Your short film Love in a Faraway Land addresses some of these ideas of finding love. Can you talk a little about making this film and what you were trying to accomplish with it?

Luis: Love in a Faraway Land marks an important point in not only my formal filmmaking career but most importantly, in finding and manifesting my voice. All my films stem from personal inquiries, questions, feelings, and desires. In order to explore these ideas, I end up writing myself as my protagonists.

I use plot as a way of exploring and developing these ideas – like a scientist going about proving a hypothesis. More often than not I write things that I would like to happen to me. It almost always is about romance and what it’s like to be in love.

I always ask myself, how wonderful it would be if our lives and stories stood the test of the time – to have a true lasting love that is true to you. The reason why I make films is because I feel like through them I can escape real life. Reality has the tendency to hurt us and to disappoint us. At least in our stories, we are able to have the love we want and to experience the lives we wished we had but probably can never have.

Meredith: Have there been any unexpected turns in your life?

Luis: Yes. One would have to be my backpacking trip through Asia in 2016. In my head, Asia was always like a myth. I would always hear of its existence, yet I had no real personal

connection to it. Now, I can’t imagine of my work existing without it.

In most part, I have my father to thank. Not only did he conceive the idea of the trip, but he also motivated me to undertake such a challenge. I have the tendency to feel very sorry for myself, but it has always been my mother and father that have motivated me to achieve more. It was during this trip that I realized that photographing the world was that I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

It was also during this trip, while taking a black-and-white photography class in SCAD Hong Kong, that I discovered medium format photography. Initially, I was opposed to film photography. I saw film as obsolete, outmoded, and incapable of doing anything that digital couldn't do better. However, this all changed when I bought a cheap medium format camera. From that point on, my world burst open. I realized that everything I ever dreamed of, imagined, and felt could be conveyed and expressed.

Also, my most recent travels to Rio de Janeiro was unexpected.

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Brazil, particularly with São Paulo. However, it wasn’t until I decided to first photograph Rio de Janeiro in summer of 2018 that I discovered paradise on earth. It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I sincerely believe that my future is somehow tied to Rio. Meredith: You mentioned using a medium format camera.

What different types of cameras do you use for photography and video?

Luis: I feel like I should divide it in two – first photography and then film. For photography, I started off with a DSLR, a Canon T2i. I feel like that was a great entry level camera. It helps you get to know the different attributes of the camera. But you outgrow it very quickly. My next camera, the one I use now, is a Sony A7s. The reason why I went with that one was because of video and because of its lowlight capabilities of the ISO. I don’t like to light things. I don’t like to waste time. I feel like everything I make is drawn off of inspiration and spontaneity, so to light things, I feel like it takes away from the soul. To play around with the ISO, it not only gives it a great look, but it makes things quicker. Especially for the documentaries – I shoot a lot of mockumentaries – so the film you saw Love in a Faraway Land, it's in real time. I put my characters in real situations and that’s it.

There’s no structuring things. Because my photography, I feel like

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it’s one part me and the other part the world. It’s like a dance.

You dance with it. You get what it gives you.

After film, I went back into photography, and I started experimenting with medium format, which I found in Hong Kong.

Yeah, Hong Kong really changed my life. I don’t know how to even begin to explain it. I was taking a class with Michael Rush, the black-and-white, and everyone was shooting the 35 mm, and I was like, “I’m going to shoot medium format.” So, to answer your question, I shoot two things – digital and medium format. Before I shoot a situation, I judge it. And I see whether it’s appropriate for digital or film. If it’s an event, where things are happening all the time, then digital because I don’t have a finite number of shots and I can experiment a lot. If I have more time, for example in Brazil, if I’ve dedicated a week and a half, then that gives me time to change the film and think a lot about the shot. But I typically like medium format. The sensation is different.

It connects you to the photo instead of a being a digital photo which is one, zero, zero, one, zero, one . . . It’s an interpretation.

Medium format has enhanced my life. I try not to sound too flowery or philosophical, but that’s just the way I look at things.

Meredith: So, which medium format camera do you use?

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Luis: I had a Seagull, which is a Chinese brand. But last time I was in Hong Kong, my dad was like, “I want to collect a Rolliflex medium format camera.” So I told him, “I will buy one for you.” Showa – was that the place?

Brooklyn: Yes! Luis: They have all these great cameras.

Brooklyn: There’s a pretty good film camera scene in Hong Kong. You can get film processed for much cheaper there. You can buy antique cameras everywhere.

Luis: Yeah, so I bought the camera thinking it was for my father and then on my birthday, he was like “Surprise! Actually, it’s for you.”

Meredith and Brooklyn: Awwwww.

Luis: I was like, “Dad, please don’t make me cry.” And so now I shoot with a Rolliflex.

Brooklyn: You were just in Brazil. Those photos, did you use the Rolliflex?

Luis Felipe Mameri

Luis: Yes. I like to build a relationship with my camera, so I take them on little trips. I used the Rolliflex in Rio. Me and my camera have grown closer. So, that’s good . . . I don’t name my cameras though.

Meredith: You’ve thought about it?

Luis: I’ve thought about it, but I’m like, “Is this healthy?” You know what I mean?

Brooklyn: So, you’ve been to Hong Kong twice?

Luis: Yes, twice. The first trip was more communal. Every experience was shared. While this time, my second time, was more independent. I went off and did things myself. One thing I was doing a lot of the second time was night photography. I would get the tripod, mount it on my shoulder, and just go.

Brooklyn: With your medium format?

Luis: With my medium format.

Brooklyn: That’s so cool.

Luis: And the reason why I say that photography for me is like a dance, is because many times when the streets are all desolate and you find yourself in an intersection, I think, “Do I go left or do I go right?” And if you go left, you could take certain pictures, but you never know what you would have taken if you go right. So, you listen to the whispers of things and you just let yourself be taken. And that’s what I like.

Brooklyn: That’s kind of how you photograph, too, Meredith.

Meredith: Yeah, it is.

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Brooklyn: We were talking about how I’m very methodical. I’m going to go down every alley.

Meredith: And I just wander and end up in a circle usually.

Brooklyn: How long was your first trip to Asia?

Luis: Well, I spent a month in China, a month in Japan, three months in Hong Kong, and then like a week and a half in Thailand. And I took so many digital photos. The first trip I did in Asia, I took 30,000 images.

Meredith: Wow. That’s a lot of photos to go through and process.

Luis: And I realized that this method of working is very destructive because you take so much effort taking the pictures in the moments and then when you look back on them, you’re not paying that effort respect because you’re just exhausted from looking at the images. You run past them really quickly to the point where I edited some pictures but I still don’t know what other potential images I haven’t paid attention to. When you take medium format, you can do a trip, and you have like 70 or something. And you can invest what you would have invested in 30,000 images into just 70.

Brooklyn: It’s like what you said when you photograph with your medium format, you take more time with each scene.

Luis: Exactly. I went to Chile, and I was taking a picture of a mountain and I realized I took a picture, but then I felt the need to take another one and another one of the same composition.

And I thought, “Why am I doing this?” With a medium format, I would have just taken a picture and been like, “It’s not worth another one.” You know what I mean? So, I’m trying to implement the same mindset that I used in medium format to digital and see if I can not only take fewer images but also better images.

Meredith: When I find myself taking multiple photographs of the same scene, it’s almost like I'm looking for a nuance that’s not there.

and it’s all the same photo. And then you go back and see that the first one was really the best. But if you’re photographing with film, then even if it’s slightly “off” it’s OK because it captured that moment.

Luis: I completely agree. I feel like for me, it’s a lot of insecurity because if I go to a place and I did not take at least one good picture, I feel like the whole trip didn’t even happen. So, it’s a lot of pressure.

Meredith: I wanted to ask you, growing up in Brazil and Ecuador, what cultural differences did you sense in the Asian culture? I would think that Brazil and Hong Kong would be very different in the way people respond to each other.

Luis: That’s a hard question.

Meredith: Like eye contact. Physical contact. Do people hug each other?

Brooklyn: Not really.

Meredith: If you meet a friend that grew up in Hong Kong, will they hug you when you see them?

Brooklyn: They will because we will. “I’ll hug you because that’s your thing.” But they usually wouldn’t.

Luis: With students in Hong Kong, I felt they were very similar to Americans because they were brought up in a very English way. At least we could have some form of common ground. For example in Brazil, people are very sensual. Body contact is very important. It’s all very laid-back. And then in Hong Kong . . . I don’t know. I know there are differences, but every time I try to translate it into words, it’s difficult.

Brooklyn: So you were saying in Brazil body contact is important. Do you feel that there is that same closeness of the people in Hong Kong?

Luis: Exactly! Yes!

Luis: No. Like you said earlier. The reason why I describe everything as a taste or a sound or a smell is because when you smell it, you know it. And if you try to describe it, it’s almost impossible. If you taste a banana, can I replicate that same taste by describing it to you? I couldn’t.

Meredith: You think you’re going to capture something different

Meredith: But did you feel comfortable meeting new people in

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Hong Kong?

Luis: Yes. Particularly because I like to put myself in complicated, challenging situations. I feel like that’s when I do my best work. For example, I never took images in Savannah because I felt like it was home. And I feel like beauty only exists in places that you’re afraid to go. That’s the way I think. It motivates me to constantly go out there and out there and out there. But it wasn’t challenging in Hong Kong because I love being in the presence of different things. So, even if they were, let’s say, rude . . . They are a little bit rude, wouldn’t you say?

Brooklyn: They’re more upfront with you about how they feel, sure. They’ll give you a grumpy face.

Luis: That’s one thing – they have little patience. At least, in the street environment. If you go to the markets or to the restaurants, they give you the food quickly. The street style is very low

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patience. Kind of like New York, I would say. But again, I enjoyed that. I didn’t think it was a challenge.

Brooklyn: Another thing I thought of was the respect. If you walked by someone you wouldn’t have to say "hello" to them.

That seems to be a city thing. Meredith, you found that to be true in Paris and New York as well, right?

Meredith: Yeah.

Brooklyn: So, how is it in Brazil? When you pass someone on the street, do you acknowledge them?

Luis: I would say that Brazil is very intrusive. Meaning that if you were walking on one side of the road and a guy found you interesting, he would yell at you from across the road. They would drag attention to you. You know what I mean? And so that’s one reason why I like to photograph Brazil. You have to

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manage so many different things. In Hong Kong, I don’t feel like someone would call your name from the other side of the road to insult you or something. And that’s very common in Brazil – especially if you’re walking around with a Rolliflex, which is also another challenge because it’s very dangerous. You would have to identify the picture, bring out the camera, and then put it back in. Yeah, people don’t really respect each other’s personal space in Brazil, which is another reason why body contact is so common.

Meredith: It’s interesting what different cultures find rude and what they find respectful. I went to Paris this summer and everyone felt slightly cold because I’m so used to being in Atlanta where everyone’s like, "Hey! It’s nice to meet you!" The Parisians were not interested in chatting. But when we went to an Argentinian restaurant in Paris, everyone was like, "Welcome!"

Everyone wanted to make sure we were enjoying our meal, and at the end, the chef even came out to talk to us. It was so different from the French restaurants where they brought out food and then we never saw them again. But I think that's the French culture – to let you sit at the table for as long as you want without bothering you.

Luis: Right, right.

Meredith: How long are you in Atlanta for?

Luis: I plan on being in Atlanta for a year or two years. I graduated from SCAD in Savannah, and I’m looking for my next stepping stone to bigger and better things. And I feel like Atlanta is the perfect place to be considering that I have friends here that can help me. I majored in film, and in the film industry they do a lot of freelancing. My friends have a company called Ubiquity. So, I’m planning on working with them. In the meantime, I’m working on my photography as well, which is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

Meredith: Ubiquity is people you knew from school?

edit the images that I took in Brazil and Chile, but recently what I’ve been kind of obsessed about is Venezuelan food. It’s overwhelming. It reaches into something that’s missing. So, what I’ve been thinking about doing is shooting like a five minute documentary because there’s a Venezuelan restaurant in the Municipal Market. Well, not a restaurant, more like a fast food place. So, I wanted to film the food but also transition that kind of into what’s happening in Venezuela. In my most recent trip to Chile, it was breathtaking to see their history and how it’s brutal as much as it is touching. And I was like, “What else haven’t I been told? What else is happening in the world that is similar to this?” And Venezuela seems to be the most obvious answer.

And I like my work to mean something. You know what I mean?

Not just a pretty picture, but for it to have some form of cultural relevance. And I feel like I want to shoot something along those lines, and therefore, Venezuela.

Meredith: Are there other Venezuelan restaurants in Atlanta?

Luis: Would it be interesting if I shot more than one? It would be interesting.

Brooklyn: Like if it’s fast food compared to fine dining.

Luis: Oooo, I like that.

Brooklyn: Or do you have any friends that are Venezuelan?

Luis: Yes. Brooklyn: Maybe different spots – one in a home, one fast food, one fine dining.

Luis: I’ll remember that.

Brooklyn: I was in Lima earlier this summer, and there were so many Venezuelans. It’s crazy what’s going on right now.

Luis: Yeah, I have a couple of friends that created this company.

They’ve been in the business for about two years now, and they’ve been working on music videos. Very high production value. They have a group of really talented people.

Luis: It’s chaos. It’s complete misery. The dollar doesn’t mean anything. It’s like a dictatorship. I’m hoping to explore a little bit deeper in the documentary, but I’ve also been thinking about going there and photographing. It’s scary, but I feel like when I’m scared, it’s a good thing. You know what I mean?

Meredith: Do you have a personal project that you’re working on right now?

Meredith: Yes. I’m interested to see your documentary when you finish this.

Luis: Actually, I thought about this yesterday. I still have to

Luis: I keep talking to all my friends and they are like, “It’s a

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bad idea. It’s a bad idea.”

invasion and survive?” I don’t think he lived to be that old.

Meredith: Because it’s dangerous?

Brooklyn: I’ll look it up really quickly.

Luis: Yeah. But when people tell me I can’t do something . . .

Meredith: You might want to learn from his mistakes.

Meredith: It makes you want to do it even more!

Luis: Imagine going to Normandy. That’s incredible.

Luis: Yes! But then I try to be mature about it. It’s hard because I don’t know when one begins and the other ends – maturity and being ambitious . . . Who knows, I might go.

Brooklyn: This website says he died while passing through a dangerous area. He decided to leave his jeep and go on the road to photograph the advance. He was killed when he stepped on a land mine on the road.

Meredith: It would be interesting to talk to someone who has been there and ask, “What are the real risks?”

Luis: What I hear is that the police are very corrupt, and they’ll do whatever they want to do. So, if you go in there like I want to register what’s happening, it’s not really the smartest thing to do. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I have to evaluate things.

Brooklyn: Well, best of luck.

But if you don’t go, you can still touch on it from here.

"It’s when I’m scared and uncomfortable that I make my best work."

Luis: Robert Capa once said, if you want your images to be good, go closer to them. I think it was a metaphor. Not physically closer. Closer to the situation.

Meredith: Yeah, he was on the beaches of Normandy during D-Day. Luis: There you go. He was pretty close.

Meredith: But how did he die?

Luis: I don’t remember.

Meredith: A land mine. Oh, it says he was 40. Where was that? . . . It says Vietnam. Well, that’s understandable.

Luis: Yeah. I have to judge things. I have so many heroes, and it’s frightening because a lot times I look at people’s photographs and I feel humbled. You know what I mean? Because I’m like I’m here and they’re up here. I feel like there’s so much lacking, but to get there requires so much courage. I look forward to it, but it’s also very scary.

Meredith: For people like Robert Capa, his photographs were great in part because he was willing to go. Who else was there taking photographs? Not many.

Luis: Steve McCurry is another one that I really like. I was reading a book about him, and he said that at one point in his life, he bought a one-way ticket to India. I was like, "See, this is what distinguishes them from me." I feel like I need to adopt that. I need to be fearless in that sense. I can’t be scared. And I find myself being scared in so many situations. But it’s when I’m scared and uncomfortable that I make my best work.

Meredith: You might want to look that up. Because I was just in Normandy, and I was thinking, “How did he photograph that

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Meredith: What do you want to do with your photography and filmmaking in the future?

Luis: I feel as if time is fleeting, and along with it, moments of beauty, romance, and love. I feel a grandiose moral responsibility to immortalize the things I find beautiful. Not only that, but to seek out my story. And I pray to God, I pray sincerely, that such a story is worthy of a photograph. I want to continue capturing the human condition, the many faces of the world because it is this that I find most beautiful. It is this in which I feel my purpose lies. It is only through diversity in which different values, characters, identities, and truths are born and able to flourish.

I want to see what eyes haven’t seen. Feel what the heart has yet to feel. Go where no books or maps can guide you – into golden fields of beauty and love. I want to hear what people have to say and see what they have to show. I want to continue to travel the world with curiosity, love, and truth and uncover the various people and things that decorate this world with splendor.

Follow Luis on his website at www.luisfelipemameri.com and on Instagram @luisf.mamerifoto

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Photograph by Alejandra Bernal

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Where were you born and where did you grow up? Can you describe your childhood and what you were like as a child?

I was born in Bogotá, Colombia and was raised in Miami for the majority of my life.

I grew up with so much love around me, because my mom was the first of her friend group to have a child. I constantly received love and attention from many wonderful people around me who were excited to introduce me to this world.

I have always had a curiosity for the arts and my favourite gifts to receive under the Christmas tree were paint sets, stamps, markers, film – anything that let me create a world of my own. I blushed easily but was the first person to raise their hand and present in class. I have always had a hunger to learn and enjoy challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone.

"I’ve always had a hunger to learn, and enjoy challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone."

Tiga @tigaroc_

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How did you get into photography and what do you like about it?

I’ve always been interested in the narrative and storytelling element that comes with photography. I can remember being a toddler and sitting on my grandma's lap as she moved my tiny hand holding a paintbrush. My grandma would let me paint anything I wanted. Since then I always had a soft spot for creating art. When I take photographs, I’m creating art. My earliest memories of photography was a couple of years after we moved from Colombia. My dad opened up a small advertising agency, so I would often go there after school and hang out if my mom needed to work. I stumbled into the photographer's office and saw a Nikon on a tripod. That didn’t really interest me. Then I saw an orange printed photo on his desk with my little brothers face on it wearing a deep blue shirt. I was amazed. I wanted to know how he made that, so I asked, and he pointed at the camera. That’s when I knew what I had to do next.

Tiga @tigaroc_

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Tiga @tigaroc_

You mentioned in your email that you shoot with a digital camera, a broken point-and-shoot, and a Hasselblad. What drives you to experiment with different cameras and what experience do you have with each?

I guess I use different cameras for different moods I have. Sometimes I want to hear a different shutter sound. They all give me different forms of satisfaction. But it really just comes down to how I’m feeling that day. When I shoot with my Hasselblad, which is not that often, I feel rare. It's such an old camera, so I'm very careful with it and not as loose. If I shoot with my digital, "beast mode" comes out, and I shoot so much.

It’s almost quite compulsive. If I’m walking around at night with a camera, I’ll be up all night. It's like I get excited at every corner and come up with new ideas as I’m shooting. When I’m feeling vulnerable, open, and intimate I’ll go for the point-andshoot since I’ll never really know how it will come out, which makes me think of the memory and how I felt at the time. I like comparing how I felt when I took the photo to how the feeling of the photo actually comes out. The grain also always adds a really nice film texture, which makes it all a bit nostalgic.

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Hong Kong

"I get excited at every corner . . ."

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Laos

Alejandra Bernal

You have spent the last three years in Hong Kong and have traveled to Japan and Laos. What are the cultural differences between each of these different places and where you grew up?

Each of these places have very different cultures within them, but the similarity that stuck to me the most was the respect element. I've learned to change my pace of conversation whilst living in Asia. Things are done with much more patience over here. I guess my favourite part is the people I've met. Although it took some time to build these relationships, I can feel in my heart that they are real. Most of these relationships have inspired my current work.

In Miami, everyone is instantly willing to get to know you and is very open from the start. I enjoy working and taking my time to gain someone's respect.

Good things come to those who wait.

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Laos

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Hong Kong

What are your thoughts about the recent protests in Hong Kong and what do you think the outcome will be?

My heart stands with the people of Hong Kong. It’s very impacting when you see so many people fighting for freedom on the streets. The bravery, courage, and energy seen in Hong Kongers is truly moving. Police beatings have gotten brutal lately. Some people have actually passed away due to these unfair beatings. There is a ton of fake news covering up their actions, and I hope anyone who reads this will question some of the news reportings from the protests favouring the police. There have been several suicides due to the actions of the government, most of them on the younger end. Of course, this isn't talked about because the government keeps suppressing the news.

Many people have fled Hong Kong in fear that things will be getting worse, but this is what they want. They want to implement fear and get people to stop talking about these protests. That will not be happening anytime soon. People are fighting for their lives at this point.

I will always support the people of Hong Kong and their fight for democracy and human rights. No matter the outcome, people of Hong Kong will never give up their identity and I think it's important to keep fighting towards a better future for their children's generation.

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Rita Chan @ritajj

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Have there been any unexpected turns in your life?

Definitely. I’d say the way I live my life is full of unexpected turns. But because of these "turns" I am exactly where I'm meant to be. Unexpected situations often always lead to open doors, and new opportunities are awaiting on the other side. I try to see everything as a chance to understand myself deeper.

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"The way I live my life is full of unexpected turns. But because of these 'turns' I am exactly where I'm meant to be."

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What do you want to do with your photography in the future?

I would really like to grow with my art. I hope that in the future I have a better understanding of myself and my ideas so that I can translate that into my craft. I hope to mix music, photography, and painting in one big project one day. That would be fun.

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Follow Alejandra on her website at www.alejandrabernalac.com and on Instagram @aleberaco

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A

conversation via Zoom between Rex Wong, Brooklyn Etzel, and Meredith M Howard on August 12, 2019:

[Editor's note: In June 2019, millions of people in Hong Kong came out into the streets to protest an extradition bill that would allow China to take jurisdiction over individuals charged with a crime. Currently, Hong Kong exists in Special Administrative Region of China under an agreement of "one country, two systems" in which it maintains its own currency, legal system, and parliamentary system until the year 2047 when it will revert back to complete control under China.]

Brooklyn: Did people know this extradition bill issue was coming or did people start protesting when it came up?

Rex: The whole thing started when there was an incident in 2018 where a guy from Hong Kong killed his girlfriend in

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Taiwan. He came back to Hong Kong, but Hong Kong can’t charge him for murder because he didn’t murder his girlfriend in Hong Kong. Then, the government tries to push this extradition bill in order to bring this guy back to Taiwan. But [the people of] Hong Kong disagree, so this is how the whole thing starts.

But why it gets more serious this June is because the legislative council can meet three times for the legislators to ask questions and to discuss this. After the three chances, the bill will get passed by the legislative council, and once the government signs it, it is an official law. So to stop them from going to the second meeting, they started all the protests and marches. The first time, June 9th, one million people came out. On June 16th, two million people came out. And the government still says,

Rex Wong

“Oh, we will just suspend the bill but not withdraw it.” And what you see from the past, Carrie Lam, who is our Chief Executive, when she was not the Chief Executive, she was in charge of some other projects like a street called Lee Tung Street. It is a very nostalgic and old street with a lot of valuable buildings.

At the time, there were protests and they asked Carrie Lam to keep the whole street. She said she would suspend but not withdraw. And at last she, of course, she did take down all the buildings and rebuilt with something new. So people don’t trust her anymore. There are also a few incidences, for example the Queen’s Pier, which is a similar case. So, that is why people are coming out to protest.

Meredith: Let me go back to before the protests. I am interested in what it was like for you to grow up in Hong Kong. Can you just describe when you were a child? What was it like growing up there, and what your neighborhood was like?

Rex: Growing up in Hong Kong, it was after the handover back to China, but everything is still very British-ish. Like people are still getting used to the new system. I think I had a really

joyful childhood. My parents would take me out exploring Hong Kong, trying different kinds of food, and go traveling every year together to see the world. It was to basically be to be exposed to a lot of things without worrying about anything.

Talking a little bit more about politics, I still remember when I was in primary school, I am still proud of being a Hong Konger and also a Chinese because China is growing super fast. When I grew, I started to see more news and started to think about different things, so I have more opinions and I know what the world is trying to do and how it is going. So it is not that "happy" anymore.

Meredith: You said you traveled with your family. Where is your favorite place you that went with them?

Rex: I don’t know. We would only go to Thailand and Malaysia because my parents love those beaches and islands, so we only went to Thailand and Malaysia every year.

Meredith: Do you like city more than the beach?

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Rex: I like city more, so now I start traveling myself or with my friends to different places.

Meredith: Which place do you like the best?

big system where your face and everything that you do will be tracked and you rate everyone with a score. So, if your score is high you have more benefits, and if your score is low you can’t even buy plane tickets.

Rex: Japan or Taiwan. They are very similar because they are very neat and clean. The food is good. The people are nice.

Meredith: Do you think people will start leaving Hong Kong when it gets closer to being transferred back to Chinese control?

Meredith: Hong Kong has a history of being controlled by the Chinese and the British. Where do you see the British culture, specifically? And where do you see the Chinese culture?

Rex: I think some people will, but most of them cannot leave because they don’t have another country’s passport. Most people are going to stay, so they are fighting for their future. For me personally, I have a passport from another country, but I still think Hong Kong is my home – where I grew up and where I am from, so I think it is worth fighting for our future.

Rex: The Chinese culture is from the poems I learned in school.

The Chinese teach about how to be polite to people – I mean the ancient Chinese culture. The words, the language, and the food. The Chinese history is very beautiful.

The British side is more about how the city operates. For example, we drive on the right side not on the left side. We have a more international view. We don’t just focus on China or just read from one news source. We read news from both right and left side, so we know how to make our own judgment based on all the news we saw.

Meredith: In 2047, Hong Kong will revert back to complete Chinese control. When people talk about it, are they scared?

Rex: Most of them are scared. But for now people usually think this is already just the 22nd year Hong Kong was handed back to China, and China is already trying to turn Hong Kong into the "China" where they control press and freedom of speech. They don’t agree with it. All of us know after 50 years, Hong Kong will be officially part of China, and they can take control of everything. The Chinese government will slowly turn Hong Kong into China. Like so when the 50-year mark hits, it will not be a sudden jump, it will gradually go to China. We all know that.

But what we don’t like is that the Chinese government is already trying to evoke our freedom of speech.

The extradition bill is something that they can send people back to China once they have evidence saying that you broke the law in China. But what we see in the past is that sometimes the Chinese government will make up something. For example, they might say – "When you were in Shanghai two years ago, you drove a car and hit someone." And then you can be sent back to China. So, that is what people are worried about. And another thing people are worried about is the credit system. It is like a

Meredith: Do you think there is any way to change the law from it going back to Chinese control or are you just trying to push it as far into the future as possible?

Rex: I would say from the first times we went out – where one million and two million people came out – most of us thought the government wouldn’t do anything even though we came out.

But the reason why we still came out is that we need to show our stance already. Whether it is passed or not passed in the future, at least we show we do not agree with this law. Of course, after the two marches until now, a lot has changed. There is more violence on both sides.

Meredith: Getting back to when you grew up and your photography. Can you talk a little bit about how you got in to photography?

Rex: When I was in primary school, there was a little interest group about editing videos. That’s the point where I started learning about photography and videography. In middle school, I stopped doing videos and photos, and then I picked it up and did a little bit more in the end of high school. Then I stopped again when I went to SCAD in the first year. But I started doing more photography when I took the photography class at SCAD. That’s when I learn photo properly because in the past, I learned everything from YouTube. I didn’t know of a histogram or exposure. I just used auto mode and explored a couple compositions. But then as I learned in my classes at SCAD, I learned how to be more professional in terms of work flow and how to deal with clients. I finished my photo minor already, so now I am moving onto video because I am majoring in film.

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Meredith: Have you taken any video classes yet?

Rex: I took some intro class, but I knew everything before I took the class.

Meredith: What do you want to do? Do you want to make films or documentaries?

Rex: I am not sure yet, maybe films or like music videos or commercial. I still haven’t had much experience in this industry yet, so I need to try more in different aspects. But for sure photo is not going to be my job. It is going to be my hobby. I think photo, for me, should be something that is fun but not work.

Meredith: So you don’t think it would be a good job, or you don’t like it as much as videography?

Rex: I think nowadays it is very hard to have success in photography because if you give a camera to anyone, anyone can take an awesome photo. It is really hard for you to stand out. I mean if you are being professional enough, you answer all the emails with good manners and you follow up the shoot very well, then you can still stand out in the photography field. It is getting so popular and easy in photography, so it can be hard and competitive to make a living – especially in Hong Kong.

"You shouldn’t ban people from saying what they want to say."

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Meredith: Are you concerned with possible future limitations on your freedom of speech in your video content?

Rex: I don’t think so because I have done video work in China before in my travels, and the art that Chinese people are making is really good. They are way ahead of Hong Kong in terms of art. The only thing that the Chinese government doesn’t like is making about politics, but other than the political part, everything is so advanced in China. When I was in Beijing two months ago, I went to their art village and they had a Picasso exhibition. They even borrowed art from Paris to exhibit there.

Hong Kong doesn’t have anything like this.

I think the most important thing that I am worried about in the handover to China is that we don’t have the choice. It doesn’t matter which side you are on, either you are pro-China or you don’t like China or whatever, the most important thing is that in Hong Kong now, you can choose what your side is and what apps you can use. Basically everything you have a chance to choose. But after the handover we don’t get to choose anything.

That’s the thing that we are worried about.

And on top of that, there are examples of people being framed for something so they can arrest you – so that’s the worrying part. And the credit system, all these are similar things. That’s the most scary thing because once everyone is chasing for a score, it becomes, I don’t know, I don’t know what the point is of rating all the citizens. They are testing it in Chung Du, China.

There is an MMA fighter, he challenged multiple Chinese martial arts masters. He had one punch and knocked out a guy saying, "MMA is the best" or "Chinese martial arts isn’t the best", or something like that, and his score immediately bumped down. But he is telling the truth because he just knocked out the Chinese Kung Fu master. That’s not, I think, how things should be, because you shouldn’t ban people from saying what they want to say.

Meredith: I am interested in your photography style where you Photoshopped all the people out of the photographs. What made you think of that?

Rex: Oh, that was in three stages. OK, so at first it started as a school project. One day I went out to photograph at sunrise. I live in Cheung Wan area on Hong Kong island, and I walked past Central, and I found it to be really quiet and peaceful. From

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then on, I wanted to document that aspect and to make it as a series. But to make it a series I need to make it more special and stand out, so I did some research to reference photographers from USA, Tokyo, and in Taiwan that did something similar with eliminating people. I did two main shootings. The first time was to explore the emptiness, to make a perfect emptiness and to feel more peaceful in this world.

The second time I photographed the same thing is when I saw this photo competition in Hong Kong called "WMA Exhibition" focusing on Hong Kong issues. It was way before all the protests happened. I think it is interesting to see a city without all its distractions. When you see people and cars in a city shot, they are always distracting you from seeing how the city is, so I take the distractions out.

"From a distance Hong Kong looks awesome – really good – and when you go closer you see something is wrong and you wonder what is wrong in the picture."

Rex Wong

Shanghai, China

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The theme for the competition is "Opportunity," so the two things I want to explore is what opportunities this city can have, and the second thing is the opportunities I can get from the city. I think by seeing the empty street view, I can achieve that. But I want to leave more room for people to explore it, because I have showed this work to different people and they have different opinions talking about it. I print them pretty big – 46 inches. Some people say, "If you see the photo from far away, it feels like a normal cityscape picture, but when you go closer you can see something actually wrong. Why are there no people in this area?” All the photos I took are in the busiest districts in Hong Kong, such as Central and Mong Kok, there will be people and cars there 24/7. So some question when they go closer and it is empty. Some take it politically, as in from a distance Hong Kong looks awesome, really good, and when you go closer you see something is wrong and you wonder what is wrong in the picture. Taking people and cars off the picture doesn’t mean I take out human elements in the picture, because you can see all the scratches and banners on the walls and traces of human activities. I think it is just taking away the distractions.

Ironically, have you heard about the July 21st events? There was this one night in Hong Kong, the normal protests were going on, and a bunch of gangster people in white T-shirts held metal rods and sticks and they rushed into a metro station and beat people up. For 39 minutes, no police came, and the train didn’t go away, it was stopped there with the door open. They were beating up protesters and also civilians, even pregnant people. When they walked by, they were being hit, so not only protesters. After that day there were rumors saying that those gangsters would be closing down the whole district to whoever appears, they would use a knife to harm them. After that day, the whole Yueng Long area, in the New Territories, some areas were actually empty without photoshopping people. So, it is ironic because I remove people from the pictures, but after that day people don’t dare to go out in the streets and stores are all closed. It happened after I created this piece, but it is ironic in this sense.

Meredith: How do you think all this will influence your work going forward?

Rex: I don’t know yet actually, because this whole event is still happening. But the immediate influence is I don’t have the mood to post any Instagram story or posts because seeing all

this violence happen in Hong Kong is just so disappointing and so heartbreaking for me. In the future I think it is something I will keep in my mind throughout my creative journey so at one point maybe I will decide to make photography that makes a comment to this event, and I will remember what has happened.

And I think it is really interesting because seeing these incidents and seeing all the history China has been before, I feel like the history is repeating itself. I never expected to be in this "history" because it is a very important time for Hong Kong. I thought it would always be peaceful like when I was in primary school – like all happy and peaceful and everyone going to a better way with the whole city improving and with everyone happy. Turns out it is not, and I wasn’t expecting it. I know the history repeats itself, it is like the Ching dynasty in China. And also very similar to what happened in Germany.

"I never expected to be in this 'history' because it is a very important time for Hong Kong."

Meredith: I saw some reports where the Chinese government was trying to blame the protests on Americans. They said there was an American diplomat that was influencing the protests and an editor of the New York Times. Were they just making stuff up?

Rex: They even took a picture of David Beckham in Hong Kong and said that he is someone from the CIA or something like that.

I don’t see a need for the USA to pay money to people to make protests and to be arrested. If they want to attack China, they can just do it through the trade war. They don’t need to make something like this.

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Update on September 29, 2019 via email: Meredith: After 13 weeks of protest, Carrie Lam withdrew the extradition bill. What do you think and feel about that?

Rex: I feel disappointed about that because this should have been done way earlier. Why people are still on the streets protesting is because they see more and more problems are reflected during the three-plus months of ongoing protest, such as Hong Kong is turning into a police state and Hong Kong citizens' human right is violated (https://www.scmp.com/

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news/china/diplomacy/article/3022623/united-nationshuman-rights-body-takes-aim-hong-kong-police) – numerous cases of using excessive force, riot police hiding their numbers or warrant cards making it impossible to make them accountable for what they have done, sexual harassment and abusing arrested protesters in the San Uk Ling Holding Centre (also no CCTV in the holding centre), charging into the Prince Edward Station on 31st August, refusing medical care for the injured and closing the station for two days raising deaths suspicions in

Rex Wong

the station. Also deaths suspicions in the San Uk Ling Holding Centre with increasing amount of dead body found cases.

Meredith: Do you think the government will give Hong Kong any of the other four demands?

Rex: I think the chances that the Hong Kong government will give Hong Kong any of the other four demands is low.

Personally, I think the demand of holding an independent investigation into police brutality is the most urgent for the government to respond to because there are no ways to complain or account for the police’s responsibility since they are covering their faces and not showing their numbers.

Meredith: It is still very interesting to me that the people are asking for amnesty for arrested protesters and real democracy with direct elections with the full knowledge that all of this can be revoked in 2047. Have you heard any calls for full independence from China?

Rex: I have heard calls about it, but I think it is not feasible at all for Hong Kong. I think the majority is hoping for real democracy

and direct elections rather than having full independence. About the knowledge of all the democracy and elections can be revoked in 2047, there are still 28 years ahead and people do not hope to start the China system anytime earlier than 2047.

Meredith: I saw photos of protesters trampling on the Chinese flag inside a mall. What are your thoughts about that?

Rex: I have no comment about their act. It is an illegal activity and has no practical use or purpose.

Meredith: Is anyone worried that China will crack down on the protests after October 1 (the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China)?

Rex: Yes, some are worried that Hong Kong will become the second Xinjiang. Hong Kong is still relatively important to China in terms of the system, institution, and economy. I think the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act” is important to "protect" Hong Kong. [Editor's note: This is a bill that was introduced to the United States Congress in June 2019 regarding the United States' relations with Hong Kong.]

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Follow Rex on Instagram @rex_wch

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here is something about bringing together 38 artists (and their many helpers) to work on a half-mile of wall that looks like jazz – each artist doing their own piece in their own style but doing it together. Every year at Forward Warrior, the public can experience the creation of these murals that flow into each other and serve as an on-going "call and response" with the city of Atlanta.

ontinues Words by Meredith M Howard Photographs by Meredith M Howard and Brooklyn Etzel

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Mural by Lela Brunet @lelabrunetart

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Mural by Janice Rago @janiceragoart

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Mural by Meredith Anne White @meredithannewhite

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Mural by Julio Ceballos @julioaceballos

The different skills, backgrounds, and styles of these artists create a variety that's hard to find in any gallery. I talked to Julio Ceballos about his training – Julio: A lot of these artists started out in street art and graffiti, and I went to art school, so I didn’t do that. And it’s a whole different process of coming out here and working in an uncontrolled environment versus being in a studio. Different experience, but it’s still awesome.

Meredith: Where did you study?

Julio: Georgia State.

Meredith: Did you like that program?

Julio: Yeah, I liked it a lot. There were a good variety of professors that were practical and crazy. Like they didn’t make any sense, but that kept you sharp, going – "What is this class about?" They had us banging rocks and recording it. And listening to plants. Very abstract theories and processes. But that really does help you think in a different way.

And then I had other teachers who were activists. I had one who would surf around the world collecting plastic bottles from the beaches and creating installations about that which were beautiful but also shocking.

She was on a panel with Pepsi about plastic bottle pollution. I was like – "Ok, so art can be about more than 'here’s a pretty painting.’ You’ve got something with a purpose."

And then the practicality of the professors that were teaching you how you package it and sell it and present yourself like a professional. I loved the program. I got so much out of it.

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Mural by Ian Wilkinson @ianthepainter

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Mural by Frank Morrison @frankmorrison

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Mural by Jonny Warren @thedoublewolf

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Mural by Chris Veal @caveal featuring Terry Kearns

A lover of the arts appears in the art. There's a saying in Atlanta – "If Terry wasn't at your art event did it even happen?"

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Mural by Sanithna @sanithna

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Murals by Courtney Hicks @courtney.e.hicks, Kayleen Scott @kayleenscott, and Evereman @evereman

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the conversation continues

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Mural by Joe Dreher @joekingatl

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the conversation continues

I asked Joe Dreher, who considers himself a social artist, about the inspiration for his piece – Joe: She was an accomplished singer and lived with her mother. When her mother passed away, she couldn’t afford to keep the house and became homeless and set those wheels in motion.

Anyway, she was singing for me and let me take this photograph of her. And I said, “I’m an artist, so maybe one day I’ll do something with it.” So, today’s the day!

I submitted this to Peter a month ago, and then that Creative Loafing thing came out in the “Best of Atlanta” Awards.

Meredith: Oh, I didn’t see it.

Joe: They have a Critic’s Choice and a People’s Choice. And they have a category called – “Best thing to hide from your out of town guests” – and the People’s Choice was the homeless.

Meredith: Wow. Joe: They’ve since retracted it with a statement clarifying their position*, but it blew up social media. I deal with it a lot because I’m out on the street a lot. It’s disappointing to think that that’s the people who are voting in Atlanta now.

Meredith: I’m surprised.

Joe: So, hopefully this will be a way to counteract that.

*To read Creative Loafing’s Editor’s note regarding this retraction, go here: https://creativeloafing.com/content461963-editor-s-note-on-best-of-atlanta

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Mural by Christina Kwan @christina.kwan.art

the conversation continues I asked Christina Kwan (opposite page) about the different flowers in her mural. She told me they are all varieties of the protea – Christina: The varieties are so dramatically different. [Pointing] Like that's a protea as well. And some of them are a pine-cone looking thing.

Meredith: An homage to the protea.

Christina: I also read that it's a symbol of

transformation and

change and

hope.

And I thought, "This all makes sense. This is good."

Mural by Mother of Cranes @motherofcranes

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"Improvisation is what allows jazz to exist in the continual state of renewal . . .

Much of the fun comes from hearing how new artists will take old standards and make them fresh as they add their own voices."

– Robert Gelinas, Finding the Groove

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Peter Ferrari, Founder of Forward Warrior @fastredcar

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Get out of your bubble and back on the streets...

Follow us on Instagram @thestreetsmagazine

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Mural by Sachi Rome @sachistudioart Photograph by Meredith M Howard Photograph by Meredith M Howard