So take me back. When did you start doing photography?
I started doing photography in high school, that’s when I really got into film photography. Those were like my Tumblr days. I just started taking 35 millimeters sort of point and shoot photos. There were so bad though. There were very, very bad. And then, you know, throughout college, I continued photography, but it was always very casual. I just was kind of obsessed with documenting via film because it seemed nostalgic to me. And I do have a huge obsession with a kind of nostalgia, which I think most people do. I went to UCLA, so I was on UCLA radio and I took pictures for like bands and more music-based photography. And then after college, I really kind of finally, got the encouragement to kind of pursue it a bit more seriously, and go the more traditional route. Now I'm shooting more in medium format.
There's a lot of nuances that come from your work. There is a lot of nostalgia too. And I think it's like since you come from curating as well, I can see how you tie the two together. What goes into your process of photography?
That's a good point, I do tend to style all my shoots because you know, the intersection between fashion and photography is what I am really interested in. I think it's very clear that I'm inspired by 90s Japanese cultures and the Harajuku movement, but also a lot of my curation and photography lens is also 90s Cantopop and 90’s K-pop. I grew up around a lot of different Asian ethnicities, so I'm half Korean, but my dad is Korean and my stepfather's Vietnamese, and I grew up having a lot of Chinese and Japanese friends.
My process starts with usually if I see a reference photo or if there's a photographer I really like, or if there's like a piece — it doesn't always start with the same sort of references. It can be a photo, it can be clothing, it can be like a person I really want to shoot, a lot of people that I shoot with are close friends. The thing that I like about styling is I want them to feel very themselves in it still. I like adding my own style, but I also want the subject to feel like it themselves. Whether that's more an exaggerated version of themselves or not. So usually I will, sometimes I'll have an outfit picked out and then I'll get the subject after, but, it is very collaborative where kind of talk to my subject, make sure like they feel comfortable but a lot of times it's very casual.
As a curator for both fashion and photography, what has it been like immersing both like mediums into one?
I think it's amazing because, you know, initially I was more so just selling clothes and I think being able to document all the clothes I actually source is like a big reason why I liked photography. I'm kind of just like a fashion nerd. So I will find certain seasons I like, and then I'll plan outfits around those and I'll try to source these specific seasons. I always have like an element of my own Asian identity and me being like Korean American, my photos, whether it's subtle or overt. Fashion is a way for me really to express that identity. And that's why I love, I'm kind of a nerd with, you know, seasons and what the actual history behind the clothes. So,I love Junya Watanabe. I love Issey Miyake, there's a lot of Japanese designers I love because Japan has just played a huge role in high fashion for a while.