Love Out Loud– tafLabs 2010
My favorite thing about our "tafLabs" room is not the ten computers or the impressive mass of wires and hard drives everywhere. It's not even the six Canon DSLRs with all their amazing lenses scattered on all the desks. (And you know how much I love my DSLRs!)
No, it has nothing to do with the gear.
At each of our stations, we are working on individual projects that contribute to the whole-- parody videos; marketing surveys; a retrospective documentary; the slideshow. Every so often, someone will stop what they're working on and lean over to check in on someone else. Andrew coaches Justin through video editing. I help Tiffany rename her files. Ho Chie and Eric look through photo albums from 1989 and laugh at their reminiscences. Karen stops by and we have the kind of late-night conversation about purpose and life decisions that makes me reminisce about life in college.
I love this space because it feels alive. People are connecting and doing amazing work-- completely unpaid-- out of love.
Every year, 200+ youth gather in the Midwest for this summer camp, the Taiwanese American Foundation (TAF). Unlike the rest of the programs (elementary through high school), tafLabs is a space dedicated to developing all sorts of projects, small to huge, that contribute to the TAF mission or serve the larger community beyond TAF.
Within the week, I created a photography mentorship group, started an online video project, produced a mini documentary, and helped with our epic 3D slideshow.
The tafLabs crew this year:
The amazing thing about TAF is that I've been attending since I was 10, and yet I still walk away every year feeling like I've pushed myself to grow. We intentionally create this space for people to be open and vulnerable with each other, and it's awesome to look around and see lightbulbs going off everywhere and people clicking into gear. I'm constantly inspired, amazed, and thankful to be a part of it all.
Here are just a few more images from the week:
The Juniors (elementary) campers crowd around a laptop for a special message from the future.
The annual Thursday afternoon water fight is preceded by a variety of stations, one of which resulted in dumping water on unsuspecting counselors.
Full blown water fight!
This is a fairly good representation of what it's like to be a Juniors counselor.
We walked into the gym already lit like this, so we had to take advantage. And if you think the shot looks pretty decent now, just go check out what happens when it goes 3D in our slideshow.
Tearin up the dance floor. He's inexhaustible.
The wonders of off camera flash. Thanks to Jon Lee for running around the dance floor with me.
The 2010 theme-- Love Out Loud (LOL)
That's all for now. See you at TAF 2011!
Learn more about TAF/tafLabs and see our work at blog.tafworld.org.
Behind the Scenes of Census 2010: Write in “Taiwanese” | Passion Project
It's been a week since the Census 2010: Write in "Taiwanese" video debuted on YouTube, and it's already garnered over 120,000 views. Produced by Slideshow Pictures in conjunction with at least seven Taiwanese American organizations, the public service announcement is part of a larger campaign to get Taiwanese Americans to self-identify on the US Census by checking "Other Asian" and writing in "Taiwanese."
If you know me well, you may know that I love being behind the scenes of all sorts of projects and productions. So I was very lucky to find myself a last-minute addition to this project. Five days beforehand, we worked it out for me to fly down to Los Angeles for a day and a half, just to help out a tiny bit. Let's be honest-- I basically had an very fun day just hanging out with the various cast and crew members, but my official capacity was to serve as the behind-the-scenes photographer on set of the video production. Later, I pulled my own weight by designing the accompanying website for the video campaign (http://taiwaneseamerican.org/census2010). But now I get to bring you behind the scenes with me!
We got an early start on the day, rolling out of bed around 6am and heading over to the studio in Alhambra.
Three Slideshow Pictures producers and a makeup artist relaxing a bit before shooting begins: Jon Lee (CEO, Slideshow Pictures), makeup artist Yuriko Bondies, Alex Yang (Slideshow Picture), and Howard Chen (Slideshow Pictures). Jon has been working in Hollywood for a couple years now. He was an associate producer on Formosa Betrayed. So between him and director Karen Lin, they were able to make this a first-class production with sound, photography, and editing professionals up and down the production chain.
Byron Werner and his crew sets up the backdrop, lighting, and camera.
They test the setup on Howard. Looking good in both frames.
Jon Lee with Alex Wen, owner of KCW studios.
The famous "Taiwanese" Census 2010 shirts. Order yours today from TACL!
Harrison and Haley are third generation hapa Taiwanese Americans. Adorable! Harrison just kept on munching away at his fruit while he was waiting, and Haley was a natural star, delivering lines flawlessly!
Love the giant pencil. Love.
Politician and lawyer Ted Lieu gets some pointers from director Karen Lin.
Two sets of sisters! We had a few really great families who came to the shoot. On the left are Japanese-Taiwanese American Muramoto sisters. On the right, Agnes Hsiao and Elena Ling.
If you've been following me or Taiwanese American news, you might recognize these two as the killers from Formosa Betrayed: actors Henry M. Chu and Adam Wang (links to previous shoots with me). Keep an eye out. You'll be seeing them more in the near future!
You may recognize actress Michelle Krusiec from Saving Face, amongst other projects. And on the right, a 96-year-old a-ma, Mrs. Ray-Yun Tsai Huang.
There were many, many more interesting people who participated in the video, but I don't have space to show all of them here, so head on over to the Census 2010: Write in "Taiwanese" website to meet all of the other cast and crew members.
Singer-songwriter Alice Tong fills out some information for me-- my other job that day was to collect bio information from everyone.
Director Karen Lin wraps the shoot at the end of the day-- 8am to 5pm. A full day's work.
Alex works on the giant pencil.
Breaking everything down-- the scene outside.
A wider view of KCW studio.
I don't know what they're thinking! You tell me.
Lastly, a word about the campaign-- I could launch into an argument about history and politics validating a Taiwanese identity. But for me, it's also about upholding the right to identify ourselves rather than be defined by others.
So share the YouTube video and the website. Tweet this. Go after one of the many other ways to take action. And tell every Taiwanese American person in the United States about the campaign.
But as Ho Chie says, no matter how you identify, whether Taiwanese or not, be sure to represent your own identity and community. This is important for all of us as Americans, and this is our only chance this decade.
Be Counted. Be Recognized.
Above, my latest web creation. Their bios display on hover! You can also learn more about the campaign and ways to help by visiting the website.
Oh Multitasking
I love multitasking. I'm most at peace when I have ten projects going on at once, and I love tracking the logistics of it all. I constantly have too many tabs open in my internet browser and too many programs running on my computer. I love it when my calendar is full and colorful, and I can feel like I'm doling out my energy in multiple exciting ways. Otherwise, I'm always anxious that I'm not doing enough or that I'm letting all this potential slip away.
But really, the key to multitasking is still being able to focus on one task at a time. It's like the classroom. With ten kids elbowing for attention, it's likely that none of them will actually get the attention they need. But if we have them raise hands and each gets called on and addressed in an orderly fashion, well, then there's a chance we'll get to them all.
There's been a bit of elbowing this week. With recent photography shoots to edit and new ones to plan, making presentations and daily lesson plans for my day job, and working on Taiwanese American community projects like the Census 2010 campaign and Formosa Betrayed opening this weekend, there's just a lot going on! So get in line, projects. There's a lot coming up, but I'm going to get to you all. Just you wait and see!
So to tide you over, here's a preview of the bridal shoot from this past weekend. To get in on all the sneak peaks, make sure you are my fan! I post my previews there first.
So much more to come. Stay tuned!
Passion Project: TaiwaneseAmerican.org | Webdesign
Every so often-- more often than not, actually-- I get to spend my time working on projects I love. It's not just a coincidence, but a conscious effort to pursue what I find compelling. And while the idea of pursuing your passions is a common enough sentiment, I think many people perceive it too difficult to actually live this way. For one thing, doing something 'for the love' often means doing it for free. But in reality, doing something out of passion will drive you through all of the tedium and the long hours of work much more effectively and rewardingly (yes, I made up that word) than the allure of money ever could.
So take a look at my latest passion project: the brand new face of TaiwaneseAmerican.org. I created the new look and functionality for the site with the help of many, many generous friends. Read my post from behind the scenes of the revamp: Behind the Scenes: A Word from the Designer. And because I love a good 'before and after', here are some screenshots of the website, pre- and post- makeover. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment here or there.
Before:
After:
3 Shoots in 3 Cities in 3 Days | Bay Area, Los Angeles Photographer
Miles driven by others: 37
Miles flown: 390
Miles driven by myself: 150
____________________________________
=577 miles traveled, and that's just today.
Sometimes exhaustion is the most gratifying feeling in the world. In that moment when you finally sit down and have a chance to rest, you can feel the very essence of gravity as it pulls your every muscle down toward the Earth. The soreness in your bones and the slight dizzyness in your head are almost overwhelming, but somehow, none of it is worrisome. Instead, the feelings are reassuring. Because when you've put yourself that wholeheartedly and whole-bodily into your work, the tiredness is not a feeling of emptiness and depletion, but your body's evidence of what you've done and what you can do, and it's all the more encouragement to recharge yourself to do it again.
I couldn't think of a more gratifying way to close out January 2010.
Before I describe my weekend, I'll give the disclaimer that this might make my life seem much more glamorous and exciting than it really is. My life is not like this all the time. My bed is often my favorite place to be. But because I want to remember these adventures, I will capture what I can in a quick summary. Ready? Start.
Friday morning I had a great session with the members of the San Francisco Guitar Quartet. Right after work, I took off for the Oakland airport. After landing in Long Beach (thanks JetBlue!) I was driven back up to Los Angeles by my friend Vince. Saturday was the big film shoot-- the reason I flew down-- for the "Taiwanese American" 2010 Census Public Service Announcement. We arrived in the Alhambra studio by 7:30 am. Ten hours, several celebrities, an Olympic athlete, and a California State Assemblyman (amongst others) later, we wrapped on shooting, had a celebratory dinner, and eventually called it a day. By the next morning at 9am, I had gone back through Long Beach and arrived back home in Oakland, but only briefly, as I then drove up another 70 miles to Sebastopol for an engagement shoot at an amazingly cute family farm.
You'll have to come back and visit again to see the fruits of all these labors. But for now, I leave you with this picture:
Long Beach Airport, the tiniest airport I've ever flown through. This one building is the entire terminal, with four airlines from beginning to end. This came in handy when I almost missed my flight but discovered it only takes 5 minutes to get from front door to airplane seat and thus made it with time to spare.
And now, it's time to sleep.
Good night, world!
Passion Project: Help these students travel to Washington, D.C.
$1453. That's the amount each one of these eighth graders is trying to raise to go to Washington, D.C. Not having much money to give to the cause, I contributed what I could, grabbing my camera and headed through the thick 8am fog to take portraits of each student. Later, we created a website with the photos and personal stories from the students about what it would mean to them to go to Washington, D.C.
I never been on a plane and I want to know what it's like. Also, I want to meet new people and see how different their lives are.
I want to learn new things that I can share with people.
My family wants me to explore the world, to take in sights that I could never see until later on in my life.
I think I will become more involved in local politics after knowing what it's about.
Right now my family is struggling with the economy and you have a chance to make a donation and make one of my dreams come true.
Help us create an unforgettable fun trip to Washington, D.C.
$1453 is a big number, but even $10 helps! Visit the UFSA DC Trip website to learn more about the trip and read more from each of the students. Then support them by making a donation through Close Up. ( Click Sponsor a School, select Middle School, and enter the School ID: SF109)
Love these photos in front of the Oakland mural and all their smiling faces!
Visit the UFSA DC Fundraising Website
Donate at Close Up
My Twenty-Five
It's been a very soggy week here in California. It's rained every day since last Saturday.
Despite the dreary weather, I've been keeping busy working on several projects of mine. One of them is the 25 by 25 list that I posted last week for my birthday. Well, I've been 25 for a week, so how did it go?
Final tally: 23 of the 25, and the two remaining ones are well in progress.
- Unveil a new blog/website
- Have something published
Without giving it all away, I'll tell you that some of these mysterious projects of mine include: eighth graders from United for Success, a big makeover for TaiwaneseAmerican.org, Elegant Owl, a brand new wedding blog, and a collaborative bridal shoot. Plus, possibly, a Census 2010 campaign. Lots to look forward to!
To cap it all off, here's a picture from task #11, take a picture a day for a week. Check the rest of my list here: 25 by 25.
Mochi Magazine
mochi mag-- empowering asian american teenage girls.
i got involved with mochi last spring as the creative director. it's a magazine started by three friends who realized a need for a magazine specific to asian american girls. they envisioned a publication run by asian american girls for asian american girls, a magazine that might serve as the "older sister you never had."
that vision quickly materialized into a nation-wide collection of all-volunteer staff who contributed time, talent, and skills to the cause. i am super excited to be part of the crew. unfortunately, with first-year teaching, i was struggling to devote time to the magazine, and it existed as little more than my email signature. but now that i'm finally getting more control over my time, i have been working on the new blog. tweaking, redesigning, reorganizing, and adding all sorts of snazzy features.
the other girls have done an amazing job. james kyson lee from heroes. vienna teng. disney channel's brenda song. an exclusive scoop from gossip girl's nan zhang. the list goes on.
check it out. do me a favor and leave a comment!
www.mochimag.com
Talya and Pavle
talya lieberman has a new life plan. and it's big.
they've already been featured by the ny times (freakonomics blog) and will soon be gracing the wall street journal. their song, freddie mac and cheese, is not only timely and witty, but musically rich-- and catchy!
talya and pavle. they're an up-and-coming duo. pavle on guitar, talya with the vocals. i read somewhere that they labeled themselves geek pop. but i've gotta say it's folky, and maybe geeky, way more than 'pop'.
of course, it's only fitting that talya would unearth these beautiful vocals from her motley musical background. born to a professional cellist (mother), a bassist and music teacher (father), talya has an outrageous musical resume that includes children's chorus, lifelong piano lessons, a brief encounter with cello, a year on viola, a fascination with french horn, and even now, graduate studies in trumpet. musical is quite the understatement.
i'm doing my part to get the word out. so check out the new website i made them. it's still in progress, but it's a nice start.
2008 Specials
ORDER ANNAWU PRINTS!
i am super excited to present a special gallery on sale now:
http://gallery.annawu.com/Photography
for my dearest supporters, enjoy holiday specials on annawu photography. my specially-selected collection of images from 2008 are available as prints, canvases gifts, and more. click "buy" to view product options.
email me at anna@annawu.com with any questions, comments, or special requests.
wishing you warm holiday wishes (it's 3 degrees in ohio!!)
with love,
anna