“A Day in the Life of Asian Pacific America” – Photo Workshop with Leon Sun, Laura Ming Wong & Leland Wong

CHSA is proud to present two workshops on documentary photography in support of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s “A Day in the Life of Asian Pacific America” online photo/video exhibition set for May 2014.

The project will collect thousands of photographs about Asian Pacific American daily life taken on May 10, 2014 and produce an exhibit at http://apa.si.edu by May 26, 2014. Over 50 professional photojournalists, documentary film/video makers, and artists are participating in the project along with thousands of photo enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds.

The first workshop will be on Saturday, April 5 at the CHSA Learning Center, 965 Clay Street, San Francisco from 2 pm to 4 pm. Photographers Leon Sun, Laura Ming Wong, and Leland Wong will present slides of their documentary photography and discuss how they approach their work.

A second workshop will be held on Saturday, April 12 at the same location. This workshop will feature photographers Lenore Chinn, Bob Hsiang, and James Sobredo.

Both workshops will be moderated by Eddie Wong, guest curator for the “A Day in the Life of Asian Pacific America” online photo/video exhibition. He will answers questions about how to join the project and upload photos and videos to the Smithsonian Flickr group.

The workshops are free and open to the public. Come learn about documentary photography and join this national and international effort to reflect upon Asian Pacific American life. For more information about the project, visit http://SmithsonianAPA.org/life2014.pdf.

For more information about CHSA, call 415-391-1188 x101 or email info@chsa.org.

Seating is limited up to 40; RSVP here >

Additional information on the photographers who will be presenting work on Sat. April 5:

Leon Sun
My photojournalism experience began with covering the Anti-War and the Asian American Movement in the 1970s. I have taught photography classes for youth in Los Angeles Chinatown and at the Community Asia Art & Media Project (CAAMP) in Oakland. From the 80s–90s I worked as a photographer for Unity Newspaper and East Wind Magazine, where I was also Art Director. In the early 1990s I did a self-directed project of photographing San Francisco Chinatown from the street. I retired as photographer and graphic designer from the city of Richmond, CA, in 2003.

Laura Ming Wong
Laura Wong is a documentary, portrait, and wedding photographer, specializing in people and location photography. Her subjects range from women in fighting sports, to the Bay Area’s activist and protest culture, to the locals she meets while traveling outside of her home in Oakland, California.

Laura’s work appears in a number of Bay Area news publications and magazines. Recently she has contributed images to an art exhibition about subverting stereotypes against Asian Americans, and a documentary in production about an aging yet active community of punk rock musicians.

Leland Wong
Leland Wong was born raised in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He grew up in a curio shop surrounded by colorful Asian art. His father, Suey Wing Wong’s interest in art encouraged him to pursue it.

In addition to being an artist, Wong began his photography career while he was a junior in high school. He began at a crucial time when the Civil Rights Movement, urban riots, the Vietnam War, and strikes on college campuses were happening. Social issues were being raised in San Francisco’s Chinatown and it enabled him to view his community with a unique photographic vision.

Wong went on to study photography at San Francisco State University where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. His photography and artwork have been widely publicized and exhibited. He has taught workshops and worked with various community arts organizations. He has also traveled and photographed extensively in Asia.

Wong continues to photograph and pursue his art. He is currently an artist in residence at the Chinese Historical Society of America.

Eddie Wong, workshop moderator
Eddie Wong is one of the founders of Visual Communications, a non-profit media company that produced books, slide shows, photo exhibits and films about the Asian American and Pacific Islander experiences. He directed and produced the following documentary films: Wong Sinsaang, Pieces of a Dream, Chinatown Two-Step, Something is Rotten in Little Tokyo, and the Sound of Pleasure.

He also served as the Executive Director of NAATA/Center for Asian American Media and the Executive Director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. Now that Eddie has retired, he has more time to take photographs and explore art projects.

Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center serves as the national resource for discovering the consequence and complexity of the Asian Pacific American experience through collaboration, exhibitions, programs and digital experiences. The vision of the Center is to enrich the appreciation of America’s Asian Pacific heritage and empower Asian Pacific American communities in their sense of inclusion within the national culture. More information at apa.si.edu.