girls

photoworks issue eight

This magazine is published irregularly at 2077-a Market St., San Francisco, Ca. Editorial contributions are selected through various processes, including email, flickr

group friends of photoworks, general curiosities, stumblings, etc.We do not accept unsolicited artwork in person or by mail.

Emails may be directed to hannah@photoworkssf.com for any comments, sug-gestions, or contributions. We do not accept responsibility for the care or safety of

material in our possession that is submitted for publication. All images are the copyright of the credited photographers and may not

be reproduced without written permission.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFHannah Louise Schuster

CURATION, DESIGN & PRINTHannah Louise Schuster

Front cover image courtesy ofHana Haley

hanahaley.com

Printed at Photoworks in San Francisco, February 14, 2014www.photoworkssf.com

photoworks sAN FrANCisCo

girlsphotoworks issue eight

hANA hAleypg 8

ViViAN Fupg 21

weNxiN ZhANgpg 29

MegAN MCisAACpg 43

In This Issue:

hana haleyChallenging and inspiring. These are the words I would use to describe my experience being a young female photographer. My strength is in fashion and beauty, topics that feel like cheating given their relationship to my gender. Why challenging? There is an influx of young female fashion photographers living side-by-side on the internet—a large digital communi-ty of us, aged 16 – 25, posting here and there on a weekly sometimes daily basis. The ‘social sharing’ phenomena of photography via websites like tumblr, flickr, instagram, etc truly supports some artists by operating as permanent galleries while other art-ists’ work can feel hackneyed. Why? In this age, it feels like we have seen just about everything. We digest imagery created by young photographers every day.

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“don’t be boring. don’t be typical. give me something I ’ve never seen before.”

It’s funny to see the same repeated imagery: girl sitting by the highway with an empty suitcase, girl holding a pile of helium balloons on a city rooftop, girl eat-ing an ice cream cone wearing trendy sunglasses (whether it be by a Roma-nian girl or a photographer in Brazil—we all thought of the same thing.) I keep this in mind when I am photographing: “don’t be boring. don’t be typical. give me something I’ve never seen before.” Sometimes I break these rules, and I’m not happy with the results. It’s hard to detach from the giddy elation at seeing something ‘pretty,’ to try and create something that goes beyond that, something hidden deep inside my imagination.

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“There are plenty of young masters creating provoking visuals that make you do a double take or want to climb inside that artist’s mind.”

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I find having my brain bom-

barded with predominantly

girly girl instincts is in itself a

challenge, because when I func-

tion from this part creatively

my photos begin to look like

thousands of other girls’ works.

My photos become typical and

they become cute. But I am not

so much attracted to cuteness in

my work as I am in intention

and mastery. It’s not as if every

female photographer has to deal

with this type of dreaminess

disease in her work. There are

plenty of young masters creating

provoking visuals that make

you do a double take or want to

climb inside that artist’s mind.

I am terribly lucky to have

free access to photographer’s

works via the internet to help

fuel and inspire my own voice.

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No matter the gender or the age, true talent persists. These talents are getting jobs, living off of their art, and kicking back with ice tea. I honestly think after you’ve overcome the overpopulation challenge, there’s never been a more inspiring and convenient time to be a photographer than right now. I’m truly thrilled.

hana haleylives and works in san francisco, to see more of her inspiring work, visit her site hanahaley.com

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vivian fu

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The act of photographing has been a way for me to document my life, as well as documenting myself. It has given me the power to control my image as well as the agency to say that it’s valid to want to control the image of myself.

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It’s hard to talk about what it’s like to be a woman pho-tographer for me without also talking about what its like to be an Asian American pho-tographer. The bodies of Asian women (and Asian people in general) are oftentimes loaded with meaning that is exter-nally placed upon them. That’s something I encounter and deal with on a daily basis, and it’s something that I battle with through my photographs.

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Through my photographs, I strive to present myself the way that I am, and to construct and own my identity instead of filling an identity that has been created for me by others.

was born in 1990 and raised in the San Fernando Valley. She finished her undergraduate degree from University of California, Santa Cruz in 2012 and relocated to San Francisco. Her work explores identity, intimacy, and power relationships. To see more of her fascinating photographs, visit her at vivianfu.com

vivian fu

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w e n x i n z h a n g

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I try to reconstruct my inner journey from trips I’ve made between my home country China and San Francisco during these two years in a truthful way, but the overloaded feelings of estrangement and desolation created by the journey have trans-formed my memories into illusions of confinement. Due to this confinement, my jour-ney story became a space-time, which resembles an aquarium. In this aquarium, cityscapes are fish tank decorations, people are fish, and writings are tank labels.

Five Nights, Aquarium is a non-linear narration weaved by photographs and five short written works. I chose five nights in the whole reconstructed journey story, using five semi-fictional short stories as clue, to portray the imaginary aquarium. The sto-ries are cold yet intimate, sensual yet intangible. The narration of journey moves from real to imagined spaces, exploring the boundaries between autobiography and fiction.

In this aquarium, cityscapes are fish tank decora-tions, people are fish, and writings are tank labels.

Hefei is a very boring city. I was born in this boring city and lived here for seventeen years. Hefei is not a very smart place. Hidden under its acceptable appearance are poorly executed

details. This apathy is contagious.

People live their lives peacefully, while their hearts long for intrigue and excitement; over dinner, people of all ages feed on topics of interest from bigger cities.

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Every time I returned, I felt an intensification of the desire of the flesh. Was it triggered by the haphazard color pairings on the streets, the raw and visceral sensations of the

dirt and grime, or the overly quiet nights that called for getting wasted?

In the winter, I always wore a black and white plaid scarf made of wool, a terrible match to most outfits. I used to stand for hours on top of a giant ring shaped footbridge on snowy evenings. The strong feeling of estrangement at those moments temporarily lifted me above the familiarity of the city. The city appeared wild through the icy air,

untamed, and the street below seemed to lead to faraway places.3635

When I lived in the city - my teen-age years - I always took my bike out for a half-hour ride at around 9pm. I would pass by a CD store, a franchised supermarket, several convenience stores serving Japa-nese Oden stew, two pedestrian

bridges, a cluster of apparel shops, two department stores, an Xinhua bookstore and a foreign language bookstore also carrying computer

games.

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I would also pass by my junior high and high schools; their noc-turnal quietude approached purity.At 9pm, the streets were usually vacant, I would stand while rid-ing and look up slightly, to simulate the sensation of flying. I slid across what was the city’s widest thor-oughfare, surrounded by the office buildings of industry monopolies. This collection of brilliantly lit min-iature skyscrapers broadcasted the local envisionings of a grand city.

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Sometimes, I would hum the song 伝わりますか that l learned from imported cassettes, imagining that I was in Tokyo; or, I would

sing California Dreamin’ that I learned from pirated CDs, imag-ining that I was where I am now.

w e n x i n z h a n g(b. 1989) lives and works in San Francisco. She received her MFA at

California College of the Arts.Zhang is always redefining her reality. In her writings and photography, she describes

her experiences of growing up in China, her current life in San Francisco, and her personal relationships—in a voice that is melancholic and tranquil.

Zhang was selected as a finalist in 2014 Three Shadows Photography Award and she was a camper at the first LBM camp for socially awkward storytellers.

To see more of Wenxin’s images and stories visit www.zhangwenxin.com

MEGAN MCISAACFemale artists have been greatly ignored throughout history, and the statistics are noth-ing short of depressing. A woman’s perspective has always been looked at as something lesser than a man’s, regardless of her ability to influence and inspire others. Through my photographs I hope to portray women (and men) as more than just a muse or object.

Perhaps because I am a woman and I’ve been photographing myself since the tender (and very awkward) age of ten, I have learned that people don’t need to appear blatantly sexy / cute / pretty to be interesting.

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If we continue to stay trapped in this fantasy world of android like women and terrifyingly macho men, we won’t ever get to experience the subtle but remarkably beautiful differences from person to person.

Everyone has a story to tell,

and the complexities of their realities are far morecompelling than the gross simplification of

what art has traditionally expressed.

MEGAN MCISAAClives and works in Los Angeles. To see more of her wonderful images, visit meganmcisaac.com

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thank youto the women who contributed to this issue

photoworks san francisco