Tang (Vietnamese noun): mourning, the expression of sorrow from someone’s death.
Tang is a reflection on loss and grief experienced in ancestral and current settings, caused by political conflicts. Using a bespoke hand-made pinhole camera, images have been captured on expired 35 mm black-and-white film and are juxtaposed with images shot in a studio on a 35 mm SLR camera. Plants, water, and urban environments signify the fleeting nature of life, whereas the constructed gestures of dancers freeze time, as they hold their position to enable correct exposure. While studio practice enabled full control of the process, the pinhole method posed great constraint on the outcomes. My photographic process is a way to engage with the dynamics of time, reflecting on how using the medium itself mirrors temporal and haptic aspects of the human condition that lead to both conflict and healing.