A figure in white floating above a snowy backdrop. Figures in black sitting around him on the snow with their back turned.

World of One: Memento Mori II

02/21/2021

“When someone that you love dies..it’s like fireworks suddenly burning out in the sky and everything going black.” Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog A good friend of mine lost her mother last month. Even though I only met her mom a handful of times, she always made me feel welcomed. It made me incredibly sad. Especially since the one thing I wanted to do for my friend was to give her a hug, and I can’t. This experience made me think about all the other nameless deaths that have happened over the past year. As of writing this, …

Stand Together - Line of Asian men in dark suits with one black man in a light suit kneeling.

World of One: Stand Together

01/23/2021

In America, Asians are known as the “Model Minority.” But growing up here, I’ve always looked at how society treats black people as the real “Model Minority.” Because there ain’t shit they can do to us, that hasn’t been done to them. With this piece, I wanted to show my support for their struggle, and to say that “Even if your back is against the wall, I stand with you.”

The World is Watching - One figure sitting on a wooden stool on the street, crowd of figures wearing N95 masks in white staring at the sitting figure in the reflection.

World of One: The World is Watching

07/09/2020

The World is Watching – Shot towards the end of May, about a week before NYC started to emerge from lockdown. This image is inspired by how I felt the world (particularly Asia) was watching the U.S during the beginning of the pandemic.

World of One: Lost and Found

05/12/2020

Lost and Found 2018GicléeImage size (HxW): 24” x 40” | Paper Size (HxW): 30″ x 6″ | Edn 5 While it’s a bit late, today I’m happy to unveil my first World of One entry for 2020 – Lost and Found. This was originally shot in November 2018, but I didn’t finish the composite till just last week. As for the reason why, it’s really quite simple. I’m an idiot. I somehow managed to misplace the files for half the rolls I took. Seeing as how I only took two rolls, I couldn’t see how I’d finish the image when …

Seeing the Same but Different

03/30/2020

I was hanging out with a couple art friends one night last October, and I mentioned (as an aside to our conversation) that “I know a lot of doctors because you know, I’m Asian.” To which one of them replied “You’re talking to a couple Jews here Johnny.” It’s amazing how our perception of things changes with time. We can look at the exact same picture, and see and feel something completely different depending on our circumstances. When I initially finished Diligentia, I hated it. I felt like it lacked all the technical hallmarks that made a successful World of …

Solitarius

03/19/2020

Solitarius – This seems like an appropriate share for today. Shot in April 2017 featuring the beautiful Nadia, who you might recognize from some of my other photos. This image plays on the same themes as the Stranger (my first Cherry Blossom portrait) such as the line between loneliness and solitude. Around this time every year, I start to get really anxious when the Cherry Blossoms start to bloom. Because every year, I know I have a narrow window to shoot a piece that includes them. These portraits are always challenging, because I essentially have to balance two to three …

World of One: Death of Narcissus

10/08/2019

Death of Narcissus is a homage to Hippolyte Bayard’s Self-Portrait as a Drowned Man, one of my favorite early photographs (and one of the world’s first selfies!). While the technical setup for this image has been floating around in my head for years. It wasn’t until I saw this Vox video reminding me of Bayard’s picture, that the inspiration for the narrative came to me. Hippolyte Bayard is a pioneer and inventor of photography in who lived in 19th century France. But he was was overlooked by the French Academy of Sciences in favor of his rival Louis Daguerre, who …

A group of Asian men in white walking under a bridge, towards an Asian man in a black suit.

World of One: Tao

12/19/2018

Tao 2018GicléeImage size (HxW): 24” x 46 5/16” | Paper Size (HxW): 30″ x 52 5/16″ | Edn 5 Tao in Chinese (or sometimes spelled Dao) is a word often used to “asian-ify” things. In the west, the word connotes images of oriental themed nightclubs, or chinese takeouts and sake bombs. But in Chinese it simply means “the way.” The way it’s used however, I think it should be translated to “the way things should be.” I’ve been going through a number of personal changes in my life, and these last three months have been filled with new experiences. These …

Feeling Numb - A shirtless man standing in a snow storm surrounded by a group of men in black freezing their asses off.

World of One: Feeling Numb

05/15/2018

Feeling Numb 2018 Giclée Image size (HxW): 24” x 49 1/8” | Paper Size (HxW): 30” x 49 1/8” | Edn 5 I shot Feeling Numb on a suggestion from my old friend Lisa Diep. “I want one side that’s feeling! And the other side, that’s numbness!!!” She told me. Lisa’s and I have known each other since high school, so she occasionally likes to pretend she’s my art director. At first I thought this was another throw away idea. But the more I thought about it, the more appealing it seemed to me. The problem I told her, wasn’t …

Chasing Magritte - A man in white tossing a bowler hat into the air, a group of men in black jumping to grab the hat

World of One: Chasing Magritte

05/09/2018

Chasing Magritte 2018 Giclée Image size (HxW): 24″ x 47 5/8” | Paper Size (HxW): 30” x 53 5/8” | Edn 5 Chasing Magritte is about wanting to emulate your heroes, as well as my homage to the turn of the century Surrealist painter Rene Magritte. It’s probably no secret by now, but in case you didn’t know, that I’m a huge Magritte fan. Dali might be the poster boy for Surrealism, but there’s something about Magritte’s work that I’ve always been more drawn to. I don’t know if it’s his wit, or just because he’s more subtle. But there’s …

Fine Art Photographs by Johnny Tang