Born in Vietnam in 1986, Maika Elan has a Master in Sociology from the University of Social and Human Sciences in Hanoi. She starts her career as a photographer in 2006 with a Lomo LC-A camera. Soon, she becomes a professional photographer, working in fashion, before orienting towards documentary.
In 2010, Maika Elan starts her first series The Pink Choice, focusing on representing homosexuality – always seen in a negative way in Vietnam. “In media, gays are always hidden, blurred. (…) In movies, they’re always excessively made up and they wear ridiculous costumes.” Maika Elan tries to break these stereotypes with pictures of gay couples in their daily life. “I wanted these pictures to be realistic, but also beautiful … when something is beautiful, people accept it the way it is.“
Many times awarded, with the World Press Photo for example, the series The Pink Choice stands for the message the photographer wants to spread, with decency and in a natural way: “loving each other, taking care of each other, there is nothing strange about it.”
FESTIVAL
Photo Phnom Penh 2013
November 30 – December 31, 2013
http://www.institutfrancais-cambodge.com
