My family moved from Hong Kong to Los Angeles when I was sixteen. Those first years were difficult for an immigrant teenager due to language and culture shifts, and at times were overwhelming as I tried to find my place in this new world. I discovered that in Southern California, the beach culture is ingrained in the lifestyle, and I quickly learned that it was a place that provided comfort and inspiration to me as a young man. I now frequent the beach regularly as a place for relaxation and observation. With this series, Distant Memories, I capture the childhood that I could have experienced, those weekend forays to the water’s edge, with family and friends and a picnic basket filled with the ingredients for a perfect day. Like finding shells on the shore, I am collecting visual memories. And while they might not be my memories, they allow me to imagine a childhood in a place I now call home.
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