31. Does my identity matter?
and how it can shape and impact my work
March started off with me going down memory lane and attending my ninth Comeback Kid show. Being a punk kid was a huge part of my identity and a part of myself I don’t access often. While driving last month, I wanted to introduce the music to my 2.5 year old (he wasn’t interested) and as I played some songs, I was transported back in time to my 17 year old self.
I got my hands on a ticket to their sold out show in Philadelphia and went by myself. Despite being able to handle a mosh pit when I was 18, I wasn’t sure how my 38 year old body would handle it. Halfway through the show, I found myself at the very front, moving and moshing, like I was 18 again.
“Shows like this are SO cathartic and it’s really beautiful how a show can connect you to other parts of yourself from long ago” said a friend when I was raving about how much fun I had. Music has a way of transporting us back in time and reminding us of who we were and how far we’ve come. Some parts of myself are obvious while others are more quiet.
When I think about what I bring to my work as a photographer, I bring all the visible and invisible parts of myself. It’s a mix of my identity, my personal experiences, my work history, my relationships, where I live and my personal photographic “style” or “voice”.
I know I’ve been sent to an assignment because I’m Korean. Other times, I know I’m being sent somewhere because of where I live. And then there are the times, because I’ve been so open about becoming a mom, I was sent to a job regarding parenthood/parenting/children. I’ve shared publicly about the experience of having a child born with cleft lip, which allowed me to to travel to Utah for ProPublica to work on a story about what cleft families experienced with their local hospital. And other times, I know it’s because someone else is busy and I’m the next option.
I can’t ever hide certain aspects of me and how I am perceived by others. I look and very much present as an Asian woman and that is the first thing people will see. And the way I have been perceived by others because of this has shaped me and how I see the world. I bring this to my photography, to the way I connect with sources and how I come up story ideas. But, there is also much more than what you can see.
I think about my upbringing in a religious cult and how that can help connect with others who may have had a similar experience.
I lived in Seoul for two years teaching as an English teacher, allowing me to have the experience of being an expat in a foreign country.
All I know in my life is being the oldest daughter and the responsibility that comes with it. This has informed how I relate to friends, family and strangers.
I didn’t grow up Korean American, but Korean Canadian and yes, the experiences are different. But not everyone will know why.
A friend recently asked me when it’s ok for a person’s identity or life experience to dictate or inform what kind of assignments they get and how do we avoid being pigeonholed or tokenized for the work we do?
We like to believe “talent is all that matters” but I know it’s more than that. I know we are being hired based on where we live, our years of experience, the types of stories we’ve worked on in the past, our reliability, our race, our gender, our sexuality, religious affiliation, whether we’ve worked with the editor before, the friendship we have with an editor, and our style/voice. All these combined makes someone “the best person for the job” and in the end, maybe there really isn’t “the best person” but just a mix of things that work for that specific assignment. I used to take it personally when I wouldn’t get called for a gig, but I’m finally at a place where it’s not my job to do all the mental gymnastics of figuring out why I’m being or not being hired.
Identity and experiences should be considered but when does it matter and when does it not matter? This is a question for all types of work, not just my line of work. I think this will be something I will wrestle with and there may never be any clear answers. Maybe more on another post on how my identity has helped me develop my body of work and how I can’t separate myself from the work I do.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on all of this.
Recent Work….
Earlier this month I met with Amna and her three children who have been in Philadelphia since last year after leaving Gaza with the help of HEAL Palestine. Amna’s two children, Elias and Taline, the two youngest, are receiving medical treatment for the injuries sustained to their legs while they were in Gaza.
“Beyond the mass death, international agencies suggest that at least 110,000 people in Gaza have been injured, including at least 25,000 children. And Unicef estimates that between 3,000 and 4,000 children in Gaza have had one or more limbs amputated. That small tract of earth is now home to more child amputees per inhabitant than anywhere else in the world.”
Please take time to read Ahmed’s story.
Words: Ahmed Moor
Photo editing: Gail Fletcher
A super interesting story about how a doctor, after he was sick himself with Castleman disease, is using AI and machine learning to find new treatments among thousands of old medicines.
Words: Kate Morgan
Photo editing: Tiffanie Graham
I met Judge Pat Dugan who is running against Philadelphia’s current DA, Larry Krasner for Philadelphia Magazine.
Links, podcasts, blogs ✨✨✨
Jenna Park also wrote about how songs become a portal to our past
Vanity Fair’s writer Bryan Burrough reveals how he used to earn $498,141 for just three articles a year back in the 90s. The industry has truly changed.
Jamila Reddy writes about how her ambition has changed as time goes by
A must listen episode from Brian Reed’s Question Everything podcast about the charade/performance a lot of journalists keep up with where we pretend we don’t have any opinions or feelings about stories we work on. The whole podcast is a must listen if you’re a journalist.
This article from the Times on the Gen X Career Meltdown is even relatable for me as a millennial.
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Currently reading & listening:
✨✨✨ Until next time!
I like these points, Hannah! I think as I get older as a photographer, I am embracing the overlap between my client work and my identity. I think it's good to be weary about how much of your perspective and background bleeds into the work and sometimes it can add to the story but I can see sometimes it may be draining too. Trying to find that healthy balance of both to make work we're proud of. But it's inevitable that people hiring you may take all of it into account and I don't think that's necessarily good or bad.
Beautiful post, Hannah, and appreciate the link. I also love to see your work in context of the news stories. At this current time in politics and where I stand now looking back, I'm not sure who and why a certain person gets hired anymore. Our multitudes bring so much experience and perspectives, but with how everything is becoming so competitive and political these days, I'm starting to believe that luck and timing plays a disportionate part in it.