May has been observed as Asian American and Pacific Islander month in the USA since 2009. We’ve featured the work of many of them across the years that we’ve been an online publication. Here are some of the very best.
Bobby Pitts
Gifted a camera when he was 12, Bobby used it merely for snapshots back then. It wasn’t until he was much older that he realized how to use photography to bring his creative vision to life.
Andrew Kung
He’s inspired by filmmakers and photographers from various genres of photography. Andrew says he’s always been drawn to visual and narrative explorations of intimacy and tenderness. He focuses his camera on themes of Asian American identity and masculinity.
Michelle Watt
You may have seen Michelle’s work in TIME, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Vogue Arabia, and more. Her work engenders stories about the female minority experience. She aims to give life to unique beauty standards, informed by her Asian American background.
Zayira Ray
To Zayira, being Asian American means diversifying the stories and representations from Asia. She doesn’t shy away from photographing taboo subjects.
Kannetha Brown
Kannetha was inspired to get into photography after seeing the photos that her mother had taken during her college years. She enjoys photographing her community’s people and finds it uplifting and inspiring.
Lanna Apisukh
We live in a world where we’re so used to checking the camera’s LCD after taking a photograph. Still, professional photojournalist Lanna Apisukh prefers to do some of her assignments on film cameras. Before she shoots, though, she takes a great deal of time to observe her subjects to capture the most real scenes possible.
Teresa Hoang
The inspiration for Teresa’s photography isn’t so much from her Asian American roots, as it is from her love of Japanese comics since childhood. Her series “Saraga” documents the immigrant communities within Indianapolis.
Stan Honda
A third-generation Japanese American himself, Stan Honda grew up listening to stories about the experiences in the camp his parents endured. Moving Walls is his documentary project consisting of a book and a short video about the Heart Mountain internment camp.
Binly
Photographer Krysada ‘Binly’ Phounsiri says Lao Americans often think of what home and homeland mean to them. His photos of Laotian Americans and people of Lao descent living in the US shine a much-needed light on this Asian American community. Read our interview with him to know more about why Laos holds the unfortunate record of being the most bombed country on our planet.
All images are used with permission and are copyrighted by the respective photographers. The lead image is by Michelle Watt.
