Exhibition & Talk at Photobook Cafe

Loos Women - Facing It Together Campaign 2024

Document Now - Bermondsey Project Space

The bravest thing I’ve done last year was to say “I need help.”

—

Portrait of Sunny Chiu from my personal project “I See You”.

I was going through a tough time and started exploring different therapies, self-improvement courses and seeking professional help. During this period, I came up with an idea to merge healing and photography in a practical way.

I focus on the lives of Asian immigrants in the UK because I grew up in Taiwan and that is my familiar culture and background. Many of us have moved far from our home countries, adopted English nicknames and adjusted to Western life, but we still carry the stress and challenges from our roots.

I put out a call, inviting strangers to pick a comfortable place, either theirs or mine, and share their stories with me. Afterwards, I led them to do breath work, and I would take portraits of them, even if they ended up in tears.

At first, I thought it might sound strange and that no one would sign up. Who wants to spill their darkest or most painful stories to a stranger and then have their tearful face photographed? But surprisingly, I received an overwhelming response and the experience turned out to be profoundly meaningful.

During the breath work, I encouraged participants to repeat a mantra, one that resonates especially within the Asian mentality: ‘I see you’.

In a culture where we often conceal our vulnerability, put on a brave face and avoid burdening others with our worries, this exercise aimed to help them rediscover their self-worth: ‘I see you’. ‘I love you’. ‘I am enough’.

During the breath work, most of them could not hold back their tears and they were grateful for finally having a chance to let out what they had bottled up for so long.

As a photographer, I often wonder what sets us apart from artificial intelligence. This project shows that our unique human quality is our ability to connect with one another. In our shared moments, we find the true depth of our humanity.

—

Winner of Portrait of Britain vol. 6

On display across the UK till Feb 8th, please send me a snapshot if you spot one!

#PortraitOfBritain #mentalhealthawareness #IAmEnough

The British Journal of Photography JCDecaux

Thank You For Playing With Me

TPG Bookshop, The Photographers' Gallery Book Launch & Talk Thu 25th Jan 2024, 6:30-8pm

Display curated by Pelumi Odubanjo Display prints by Image Print Centre & PermaJet

Photo by Daniel Sims

Thank You For Playing With Me

Published by Stockmans Art Books

TPG Bookshop, The Photographers' Gallery Book Launch & Talk with Gem Fletcher Thu 25th Jan 2024, 6:30-8pm

Display  26-28th Jan, 2024

Display curated by Pelumi Odubanjo Display prints by Image Print Centre & PermaJet

Portrait of Britain vol. 6 Winner

Portrait of Sunny Chiu

Vogue Portugal Dec issue 2023

Interview - Self-Acceptance: A Love Story

NOWNESS - Photographer in Focus

Dazed interview - These photos celebrate the beauty of body diversity

i-D interview Thank You For Playing With Me

Thank You For Playing With Me by Yolanda Y. Liou Due to launch in Nov 2023, the pre-order is now available. Get your copy of Thank You For Playing With Me now. About Thank You For Playing With Me “Thank You For Playing With Me” dives into researching the concept of modern beauty, documenting portraits of Enam Ewura Adjoa Asiama and Vanessa Russell from 2019 to 2022. This book is an intimate record of that journey. The expectation of being skinny as the standard is relentless in Asian beauty culture. I’ve experienced the stress of this since a very young age. In 2019, when I was thinking about this body image topic again, I came across Enam’s Instagram profile. I was taken by her confidence and charisma. Suddenly it clicked; I’m a photographer, I create images. Images don’t create me. I collaborated with Enam and Vanessa over the next three years, we went on the journey of transformation personally and collectively, finding our own foot in the world, career changes and moving cities, grieving the lost ones and celebrating the new life - sisterhood, womanhood and motherhood. It's a call for us all to play, to be human, and to celebrate the unique beauty that resides within each of us. Pre-Order at Stockmans Art Books

Telegraph Luxury - Portrait of Anu Hinduja & Nandita Maharani

Fisheye Mag - L’exaltation par l’art

Art Finder - Ones to Watch Summer 2023

"illusion" Film Screening at Cuerpo Transparente

National University of Arts - Critical Arts Aréa, (Bs. As)

June, July 2023

Fabric Magazine May 2023 Cover with Freema Agyeman