For the past couple months I've had the pleasure to photograph and watch Midnight Market's exponential growth.

Major kudos to the two brilliant women behind the magic. I have no idea how they manage to pull the market off all on their own.

I'm starting to prepare for my upcoming Spring 2018 show at Village West Gallery. I still can't believe it's happening; I'm a squirrel-er, I rarely display or show my work. I'm both terrified and honored.

secaucus football, one of my first assignments

I've very slowly begun sifting through thousands of images, most of them from my time as an intern for The Jersey Journal.

Sometimes I miss the 10 hour night shifts, photographing everything from four alarm fires to story time. It was a daily grind, five assignments a day, driving from kearny to bayonne to union city, eating fast food while driving with my knees. Best decision I ever made.

I met so many incredible women in South Korea.

Free, adventure-loving, outgoing, vibrant. South Korea is the homeland of my parents--while it is foreign I feel it in my blood, I understand the language and to some extent, the culture.

I think about my parents immigrating to America and I cannot imagine doing the same. How terrifying and how brave.

I love shooting high school sports. The spirit, the camaraderie, the competition, the hopefulness of it all.

moments from the first football game I photographed for the journal

I think about the Philippines often. How it rained on and off all day and how the landscapes were a stark green and blue.

                                            payatas, phillipines

six months down, three months to go

2,124 photographs uploaded into photo galleries in less than three months. Six more months to go.

My cousin’s water broke at 31 weeks. They’re feeding her antibiotics and steroids; the doctors are hoping she’ll make it to 34 weeks without giving birth.

I’m spending all my time at the hospital with her, translating doctor conversations and making sure she doesn’t go stir crazy from the monotony. Also, taking pictures.

babysitting joshua and theo

I was there when Theodore (5), was born. I was 16 when they ushered me into the hospital room. My aunt didn’t speak English and I needed to translate for the doctors. 

I’ve photographed these boys since they were babies. It’s crazy how fast they’re growing up.

I’ve been spending a lot of time at my parent’s convenience store. It’s in the heart of the east end, and they’ve been there for a little over a decade now. A lot of change has come to the area, for the better? who knows yet. I owe everything to the neighborhood—my education, my shelter—It has clothed and fed me. My parents tell me to thank it every time I turn to go home. I do. Thank you.

I remember being eight years old, sitting in a circle at school. One by one, we had to tell our class what our parent’s ‘did’. Doctor. Lawyer, engineer, nurse, then me, me who has photographs of herself as a child next to racks of Playboys, riding Princess Jasmine-themed bikes down aisles, running tickets through the lotto machine, me, me who didn’t know what to say, me who replied, my mom is a cashier so fast the words blurred together.

If I could go back in time, I would tell myself never to be ashamed.

my cousin in the kitchen of her convenience store frying chicken

my tired father behind my mother behind a lotto machine behind a dirty plastic wall

batman smoking and my mother making sure I get to my car safely

my father smoking in the shadows of the empty seafood restaurant

theodore hanging off my father’s leg because he wants to go home

the place my aunt was murdered