Junfu Han | 韩君傅

hurdle

2012-01-29T21:03:00.001-07:00

I shot this photo with a new(old) camera I just got, @Albuquerque Convention Center during the New Mexico Invitational

Mario, a work in progress

2012-01-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

This is a personal project I'm recently working on about this guy Mario I met at the flea market during the UNM photo bootcamp two weeks ago, he lost his right leg 8th grade when he was playing football but with his passion in hip-hop, he teaches kids break dance with his friend Albert. What's more interesting is he lives 2 blocks away from my house.

I will keep updating this story.

2012

2012-01-07T23:45:00.001-07:00

I took this photo when Gabby and I were driving on a country road in Michigan on New Year's Eve .

2011 is a great year for me, I did 3 internships, won 4 awards, received 3 grants....
I'm looking forward to all the challenges in 2012, graduation, grad school applications, internship, job, personal projects......

NCAA second round

2011-11-20T23:36:00.002-07:00

A picture from the second round of NCAA men's soccer game at Albuquerque, NM.
New Mexico 2-1 Duke

Religion of Peace

2011-09-19T00:14:00.002-06:00

Here is a video me and my friend Andrew Beale made for the 10 years anniversary of 9/11
Religion of Peace: Media (mis)Perceptions of Islam Ten Years since 9/11

Religion of Peace: Media (mis)Perceptions of Islam Ten Years since 9/11

Film by Junfu Han and Andrew Beale

Tibetan monks in ABQ

2011-09-12T19:52:00.003-06:00

I had a assignment last week to take photos of some Tibetan monks's visiting in ABQ
two pictures: their performance in Old Town Plaza and a portrait by the UNM Maxwell Museum of Anthropology

Shai, (a work in progress)

2011-08-19T15:54:00.007-06:00

I'm still working on the video project about Shai, the boy with autism.
I just a big debate with myself about using color photos or black&white photo. Finally I decided to choose color.
I have total 170gb of footage. Hopefully I will have a trailer coming out soon.

below is two photos of Shai and his father Michael.

my last day with Rep-Am

2011-08-06T17:01:00.005-06:00

Today is my last day of this 10-week summer internship with the Waterbury Republican-American
except the weather and humid, it has been a fantastic summer for me, I learned a lot not only about journalism but also everything about life
especially two days ago when I heard my rodeo school story has been picked up by AP and featured on Sunday advanced story

here are a few pictures of the newspaper building and the tower which is the tallest in New England area

Thank you Connecticut and all the newsroom people at Rep-Am!

I will be leaving here next week and enjoying my real summer vacation.
Adventure continues...

A day with Shai

2011-07-24T17:05:00.007-06:00

Recently, I'm working on a project with a school in New Haven about the special program they have for kids that have autism
Today, I spent a day with Shai at his house, we also went to Knights of Columbus Museum and a Greek pizza restaurant(his favorite restaurant)
I will be back to meet him again on my next day off Thursday.
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more photos will be shown after I finish this project

a day on a blackhawk

2011-07-22T17:40:00.004-06:00

I had an assignment about the National Guard's forest fire fighting training in Riverton, CT
and I had a chance to get on a Blackhawk helicopter, that was a really cool experience

Rodeo School in New England Day2

2011-07-16T23:09:00.001-06:00

another day shooting the one and only rodeo school in New England

A Simple Question project in Torrington, CT

2011-07-16T14:58:00.001-06:00

filmed during the Arts & Culture Commission in Torrington, CT

4th of July

2011-07-05T12:06:00.005-06:00

Above: three photos from three different assignments
1. skydiving in Torrington,CT
2. William Hung with his dad before his performance
3. children playing magic bubbles before fireworks starts in Waterbury Municipal Stadium

Two years ago, I was at the Rainbow Gathering in Cuba, NM
Last year, I was in China doing my Three Gorges Dam project
This year, I was doing assignments in Connecticut

Rodeo School in New England Day1

2011-06-18T18:58:00.002-06:00

I spent this morning and half of the afternoon at the one and only rodeo school in New England
it locates in Canaan, CT

this is just the first day of getting to know what is it like
I am looking forward to go back and meet them again next weekend

here are a few picks from today's shooting.
Jim Shannon, thank you for helping me editing the photos

Goshen fairground

2011-06-17T20:38:00.004-06:00

seems like I will send the entire weekend in northern Connecticut
a story about the Goshen Stampede
and a story about the only one rodeo school in New England

a picture from today's picture hunting, after the thunderstorm and before Goshen stampede started

steeplechase

2011-06-15T17:25:00.002-06:00

I have to say this, I've waited for shooting steeplechase for two days.
I was covering the Connecticut State Boy's decathlon and Girl's heptathlon in New Britain these days. But I missed the girl's steeplechase yesterday because I have to go to another assignment.
Today, I waited from 11:30am to 3:30pm for shooting this event. and here is the picture,

a Jamaican wedding

2011-06-04T21:50:00.002-06:00

one of my four assignments today is to photograph a wedding that the couple (both Jamaicans) requested guests to bring food as wedding gifts, and the food will be donations for Connecticut Food Bank

this photo is from the wedding but nothing related to the assignment.

high school graduation

2011-06-03T17:57:00.002-06:00

I covered the Westover School 's graduation ceremony today. And Bob told me that I will have a lot more high school graduation to shoot in the following days.

This area has 48 high school, so far we have only covered 1/3 of the graduations.

back to work

2011-06-02T20:10:00.005-06:00

I just had two days off, so I took a bus trip to NYC and experiment with the app Hipstamatic on my iPhone. will post some of those pictures soon.

I had three assignments today, a baseball game, a golf game, both are high school sports and a standalone photo about the local baseball team in Torrington.

below is a picture I took during the baseball game, but not from the actual game

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T11:15:00.003-06:00

I worked on Memorial Day, took a lot of parade photos. This is my favorite of today.
Jason Turner and his two-year-old son Maty Turner were watching the parade in downtown Torrington,CT. The boy had no interest in the parade, he kept turning around and looking at all the toys in the closed toy store behind.

It's two days away from June 1. In China, June 1 is a holiday for all the kids, we call it Children's Day. I remember when I was a kid, Dad always gave me ¥5 to buy toys and I always get a different military ship or jet.

well,
Happy Children's Day!
even if you are not a child any more

another memorial assignment

2011-05-26T21:21:00.004-06:00

I got another memorial assignment to shoot in state capitol in Hartford.
This memorial is about the seven Connecticut soldiers who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past year.

Ling Noonan(center), her son got killed by another soldier in the dorm in Iraq last October.

pre-memorial day

2011-05-25T20:00:00.004-06:00

I just figured out my schedule of the rest of the week and next week. I will have to work on Memorial Day which means I will probably get paid extra.

Today, the third day of internship. I had three assignments, the last two are Waterbury Police Dept& Fire memorial ceremony and Veterans memorial dinner. And I will have another bigger memorial event in Hartford tomorrow afternoon.

Here are a few photos from the police memorials, it's a standalone photo so only the last one will run on the paper.

NVL track&field championship

2011-05-24T18:27:00.005-06:00

This is the second day of my summer internship in Waterbury, CT.
I got three assignments, the third one is a high school track and field game which was my favorite.

it took me a couple of minutes to get used to the strange environment. Because I am so used to the New Mexico sunlight, blue sky, it is cloudy here. My friend Bob told me it has been rainy for the past three weeks.

so far, the only two things I don't like here: the highway is really really confusing; there is the a dress code for working at the newspaper

next adventure

2011-05-14T14:13:00.003-06:00

I am leaving for my summer photo/multimedia internship with the Republican-American, a newspaper in Waterbury, CT next Thursday.
2,100 miles of driving from Albuquerque, I am still thinking about to make it two days or three.

wish me good luck!

exhib on cinco de mayo

2011-04-26T18:20:00.002-06:00

Finally set the date up for the exhibition of the Juarez project
It will be on May 5, cinco de mayo in the Hydra Gallery in Albuquerque.

a few photos from Anapra, Juárez, México.

2011-04-09T16:11:00.004-06:00

a few photos from Anapra, Juárez, México.

Presentation

2011-04-05T00:49:00.004-06:00

I will have a presentation on the project I'm working on in Juarez on Tuesday at the university's research and creativity conference.

Wish me good luck!

I edited this video last night( in a rush ), will have a better version soon.

Questions from Mexican children

2011-03-29T13:40:00.003-06:00

Last weekend, I went down to Juarez again for my project.
Since those kids in the Amigos en Cristo always ask me questions about China. I told them to write down the questions they want to ask the most about China.
I came to Albuquerque on Monday and posted those photo online. It got really good responses.

Here are the photos:

ps: I will put on the Spanish questions and English translations on it by tonight.

St.Patrick's Day in NYC

2011-03-18T23:17:00.004-06:00

I am spending a lovely spring break in NYC. Hanging out with old/new friends, checking out different cool museums, and of courses Chinatowns. I didn't realized that how much I miss China until I went Flushing which is the place has people from all over China. Compare to the old Chinatown in Manhattan, Flushing has more diversity.

But anyway, I was at the 250th St.Patrick's Day parade on 5th Ave yesterday. I'm going back to Albuquerque next Monday and will have another trip to Juarez on Thursday. Really looking forward to meet all the nice, friendly people in Anapra again. I miss them so much.

Family Portraits

2011-03-02T21:01:00.001-07:00

update the family portraits from last trip to Anapra
I'm leaving for Juarez again this Friday and will have more to put into this album next week.

brothers

2011-02-17T13:48:00.003-07:00

I found this picture when looking through all the photos I took from last trip in Anapra.

Finally, I scanned all the films this morning. I am going to edit those images taken by kids tonight. I am really amazed by the way they look at their families.

the other side of the fence is another world -Part Three

2011-02-13T17:41:00.003-07:00

Finally, I have some time to work on the photos from the last trip to Juárez.

I found a cheaper price to process film at Costco which is $2 each roll, comparing to $6 at Walgreen, it is much better. The next a few days, I will scan all the photos taken by the children and post them on the blog. But I will probably cancel the plan of going to Juárez this weekend, since I'm sick.

The reason I chose to do the project in Anapra, Juárez: 1. it is just by the fence of the U.S and Mexico; 2, the people are really poor and friendly there; 3, the children I met at the Amigos en Cristo community center are very smart and creative.

I really enjoy visiting every family in Anapra, taking photos of the family. My Spanish is not very good, but I have the have best teachers in the world-- the kids. And sometimes, I feel that going to a place without speaking the language very well, I have to try different ways to communicate with them. Everything is based on trust.

Frontier Restaurant's 40th Anniversary

2011-02-09T15:59:00.002-07:00

I made this video for Albuquerque local famous Frontier Restaurant's 40th Anniversary.

An essay by a homeless student

2011-02-08T22:42:00.003-07:00

When I was at Noon Day Center last Saturday, a homeless guy asked me to do him a favor which is to type his essay down and send to the professor. He is a homeless student.

Because of the cold weather, schools were closed from Thursday to Sunday last week.

I don't know if I will meet him again, if I do, I would like to go into his life and write/photograph his life.

Open publication - Free publishing - More new mexico

the other side of the fence is another world -Part Two

2011-02-04T02:20:00.004-07:00

On the other side of the fence is another world

Last Thursday, I drove five hours from Albuquerque, NM to Juárez, México by myself. This is the first time I went to Juárez alone. After crossing the border, I started getting a little bit nervous. I didn't speak Spanish very well and I was at this place that supposed to be very dangerous.

When I arrived at the community center Amigos en Cristo, I saw the kids, all the anxious was gone. The local artist 'Bandidos" was giving the children an art history quiz. My friend Pastor Misael Lorea introduced me to all the kids and told them that I will teach a photography class on Friday.

Before I left for the trip, I started reading Wendy Ewald's books which are really helpful for my project. The ways of teaching children photography are different from how I learned it.

Adults have more knowledge, in another case they have more restrictions which prevent them from being creative.

I was also reading the book Ways of Seeing by John Berger.

He said, "The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe."

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In the next post, I will talk about the photo class I taught.

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Children at Bandido's art history class in Amigos en Cristo community center on Jan. 27, 2011.

Homeless/Houseless

2011-02-03T00:05:00.005-07:00

UNM closes for two days due to the bad weather. Since I've been to Minnesota last year, this is not that bad for me. But people in New Mexico think it is terrible.

I went on an assignment about the shelters opening for homeless people today.

The things I saw there makes me really sad.

Before I left the Noon Day Ministries, an 18-year-old boy asked me if I would like to hear his story.I said yes. But because of the deadline, I had to leave early.

I told him that I will be back there tomorrow again to do a story on him.

He agrees.

I feel sorry for his life, especially he is that young. For me, as a young college journalist, there is only certain things I can do to help him, but I really hope he will have a better life in the future.

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I will have a follow up story.

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Below is the photo I took today.

Justin Beatwright kisses his girlfriend Jenn Janet at the Noon Day Ministries Wednesday night.

the other side of the fence is another world-Part One

2011-01-31T14:17:00.007-07:00

On the other side of the fence is another world

I took another trip to Juárez last Thursday to start my project in Colonial Anapra. On my way crossing the border back on Sunday, the US border patrol asked me if I went to Juárez by myself.

I said yes.

Her respond was "You are so brave."

Before I left for this trip, so many of my friends told me not to go, regarding the violence.

I did not really listen to them but I got scared everyday by reading the number of people being killed from the news everyday.

I called my parents the day before I left, the only thing I said was "I think if I don't bother anybody, nobody's going to bother me." My parents are in China, and media there don't really talked about the drug related violence on the border of the U.S and Mexico. One reason was there's no Chinese media there. Because of that, my parents don't know what is going on in Juárez.

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The next post, I will talk about what I've done in Juárez.

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I took the photo below on Saturday after the bi-national anti-war, anti-racism protest on the border.

Those kids are holding the balloons they got from the people on the U.S side. On their left is the fence which divides the land into two different countries. In the back is the Mount Criso Rey which is on the intersection of New Mexico, Texas and Mexico.

art in war time

2011-01-11T23:45:00.004-07:00

The Daily Lobo published those two photos on Monday's issue.

I see it as the beginning of my project in Juárez, México. I've visited a lot of people on UNM campus today to talk to them about my project idea and see if they are interested in giving grants.

And I am also trying to get into an independent study class with this new project in the Communication & Journalism Dept.

I will have a lot more people to talk to tomorrow.

Hope everything goes well and I can accomplish what I expect!

Doris Judith Loera, 8, shows her painting of Anne Frank in the Amigo en Cristo Community Center in Colonia Anapra, Juárez , Mexico on Jan. 8. Loera says children in Juárez are locked in the house due to drug-related violence, and she said Anne Frank’s captivity was similar.

Ana Karen Garcia,11,(right) and her sister Samanta Garcia, 9, swing while displaying their paintings in the Juárez center Jan. 8. Children in Colonia Anapra go to the community center for art class every Saturday. Artists from Juárez teach classes.

Portraits from CE.RE.SO

2011-01-10T01:17:00.008-07:00

When I was doing the week long internship with Gallup Independent, the three photographers (Adron Gardner, Brian Leddy, Cable Hoover)there helped me editing the whole portrait project.

Here are the final picks:

Talking about working for the Gallup Independent, I had a really good time there. I covered different stories in different pueblos, drove on icy road early in the morning, had really surprising welcome from the natives in Zuni pueblo...... Of course, I learned a lot from the three photographers.

Thank you all!

Monday ride-a-long in Gallup

2011-01-04T01:36:00.006-07:00

I got a ride-a-long with the Gallup Police Dept tonight from 8pm-12am. I was sad when I heard the police officer told me that I am not allowed to get out of the police car because I won't be protect myself since I don't have a weapon with me.

Four hours, three domestic violence, three drunk in public

on a Monday night

It makes me want to start a project with the Albuquerque Police Dept to do a ride-a-long on Central Ave. every week.

Gallup police officer Lionel Desiderio takes Wilbert Hardy from the parking lot of the Butler's to the police car and then brings him to the NCI which is a drug or alcohol rehabilitation center in Gallup, NM on Jan. 4, 2011

the new one won't come until the old go

2011-01-01T16:52:00.007-07:00

旧的不去，新的不来，the new one won't come until the old go

this is what we say in Chinese after we lost something, in order to make ourselves feel better

New Year's Day, I drove to Gallup with Pat to have a few days of freelance work with the Gallup Independent and my personal project in the Navajo Nation.

It is 15 degree cold than Albuquerque. Driving in the now is a little bit dangerous, I really hope my little car could survive these days.

A member of the UTEP marching band leaves the University Stadium in Albuquerque, NM during the half time show at the 5th Annual New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 19th.

I think this is only time during the break I don't want school to start too soon. A lot of new projects going on, that makes me just want to stay working.

ps: I am really nervous about waiting to get letters back from the Star Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle summer internship these days.

And I have a few more internships with smaller newspapers to apply.

Good luck to myself and everyone at Daily Lobo that is applying for summer internships.

Cuauhtémoc, Mexico

2010-12-31T12:46:00.008-07:00

For the past three days, I went to Cuauhtemoc, Mexico with the Better Together Mexico project which is a Christian missionary. I was documenting the whole trip.

Also, I photographed a portrait series in this jail in Cuauhtemoc. I got back to Albuquerque last night, and quickly picked one from the series. Here it is:

A inmate with his family in the Cuauhtemoc jail on Dec, 29, 2010.

On my way back from this trip, I was planning on the next project in Anapra, Mexico. Anapra is only 10 minutes away from Juarez, Mexico which is having the drug war going on nowadays.

For the new project, I want to use the idea of Kids with Cameras in the movie of Born Into Brothels. I will try to save some money and get some donations to buy cameras for the kids in Anapra. Hoping I can bring the photos the kid took back to New Mexico and have an exhibition to get some money to make kids' lives better.

Last day of 2010, a lot of new projects and hope in the coming year.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year

2010-12-26T16:54:00.002-07:00

Happy New Year!

It is the time to say good bye to the old year.

A lot of things that happened in 2010, school, work, family, relationship... Nothing has changed my goal of chasing my dream.

I'm looking forward to the new year.

For the last three day of 2010, I will be in Mexico documenting a Christian missionary trip to a prison nearby Chihuahua City.

I took the picture below on the day before Christmas Eve at a birthday party.

Finals Week

2010-12-14T21:58:00.004-07:00

I finished all my finals a week ago. This week is mostly for me to relax and apply for as many summer interns as I can.

Monday morning, I got my first rejection letter from the Dallas Morning News. I was a kind of sad but later I realized that I might get more and more as time goes. Sooner or later, I will hear back from the Denver Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Star Tribune.

I am already looking at some smaller newspapers to apply. Wish me good luck!

I took this photo last Saturday, for an ice skating show. The only thing I learned from shooting this kind of event is no matter how warm outside is, it is still very cold inside, cuz I have to stand on ice.

Groups of ice skaters warm up for the "It's a CooLLOOP" Christmas 2010 show at the Outpost Ice Arena in Albuquerque,N.M. on Dec, 11, 2010

Let's take a picture together

2010-12-05T21:12:00.003-07:00

I went down to Las Cruces,NM with three friend to cover the New Mexico Lobos and New Mexico State Aggies basketball game. The game ended with 84-78, the Lobos won.

It was a fun trip. And I started noticing that people love getting together and taking pictures. It kept reminding me the first few paragraphs I read in Roland Barthes' book Camera Lucida, Barthes says "show your photographs to someone- he will immediately show you his: 'Look, this is my brother; this is me as a child,' etc.; the photograph is never anything but an antiphon of 'Look,' 'See,' 'Here it is'; it points a finger at certain vis-a-vis (It's French,I don't know what this means), and cannot escape this pure deictic language. This is why, insofar as it is licit to speak of a photograph, it seemed to me just as improbable to speak of the Photograph."

What do you think?

Anyway, I'm stressful today. To me, there is one more week left then the fall semester is over. I'm planning on the summer internships, the spring break trip to NYC, the NPPA workshop in Warwick, RI for next year.

I should just write my final paper for the art history class now.

BTW, my topic is about the ethics in photojournalism. I started with talking about Kevin Carter.

Bike Coop

2010-12-02T01:05:00.005-07:00

I started my photo column Backstage on the Daily Lobo since Fall 2010 semester. It was an idea that has been in my mind for a really long time. I always want to go out and look for people's stories by myself and try to find something behind.

So far, I had a firefighter, a man in the Salvation Army Adult Rehab program, a Mexican boot maker, a barber, a veteran. This is my sixth column. It is about one of the oldest bike shop owners in Albuquerque, N.M

(Photo by Junfu Han)

Greg Overman, right, took over the Bike Coop on Central Avenue in 1998. He dropped out of New Mexico State University in 1972 because of financial problems. He was studying music at the time, and he worked in a bike shop in Las Cruces. He said he hadn’t planned on being a life-long bike mechanic.
　　
“But doing what you enjoy is quite a privilege,” Overman said. “Especially if that’s your job and you get to do what you enjoy.”

After moving to Albuquerque in 1973, he kept working on bikes in different shops around town. He said his mother taught him how to fix things.
　　
“When I was a little kid, I liked taking things apart and not always putting them together,” he said. “My mother made it clear to me that if I was gonna do that I have to learn how to put it back together, so it will work. And that’s how I started it.”
　　
“Life is short. All I have to do is enjoy as much as I can,” he said.

(My friend Chris Quintana helped me editing this essay. Thanks Chris!)

I'm Back

2010-11-30T18:41:00.005-07:00

I'm back to blogging again. The past 7 months has changed me a lot.

I become the photo editor at the Daily Lobo and start digging more and more in the photojournalism world.

And also I'm working on the applications for summer 2011 internships.

Here is a photo from the TCU vs UNM game on last Saturday.

Susan Shivers hugs her son Luke Shivers, a TCU fullback, Saturday after the Horned frogs defeated UNM 66-17. Shivers presented her son with a rose, as TCU finished the season undefeated and will likely get a bid to play in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. (photo by Junfu Han)

I saw this quote on A Photo Editor,

Before I became a picture editor, I assumed that “good photographers” took “good pictures” because they had a special eye. What I found was that good photographers take good pictures because they take great pains to have good subjects in front of their cameras. Reflect a moment on what cameras do, and this makes sense. Good photographers anticipate their pictures. What good picture editors do is help them.

– John Loengard

A Story of the Piñata

2010-05-01T01:13:00.005-06:00

A Story of the Piñata from Junfu Han on Vimeo.

After 6 hours of struggling with Final Cut Express, I finally finished editing this video

Now, I am having a good time with video editing, and I find a way to display high quality photographs in video

weekend punch

2010-04-23T20:03:00.004-06:00

A man having a smoke outside of the Share Project in Albuquerque, NM on April 18

I was sad on Monday because this photo did not run on the paper, it was supposed to go along with Andy Beale's story about a kitchen for the homeless people in Albuquerque.
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My original plan for this week was to take the Mexican bus to El Paso,TX to look for some ideas of my stories about the border. I didn't make it because I had a bad a headache and toothache this morning. Then I ended up going to Old Town to look for a Piñata story from La Piñata Shop and buy a bag of hot Jalapeño Peanut Brittle from the Rockey Mountain Chocolate.

Hopefully I will get the chance to film the two Piñata shops in town these days. And also I hope the build-in microphone on my 7D could work good.

I should be home soon

2010-04-17T22:20:00.003-06:00

I found this postcard a long time ago in old town Albuquerque. By the time I saw this card, I told myself that one day I would have the chance to send it.

I haven't gone home in about two years. But this time, I will see my parents in less than a month.
I'm going to send this card on Monday.

New Mexico Society of Creative Anachronism

2010-04-16T00:15:00.004-06:00

New Mexico Society of Creative Anachronism from Junfu Han on Vimeo.

Got my first multimedia clip done

Thank you for Joey Trisolini's help.

Reprise

2010-04-10T01:15:00.005-06:00

@Isotopes Park, after UNM lost to BYU on Friday

I'm so glad this long week is over
even though I was chilling at the baseball field the whole night
I felt happy

Although the Lobos lost, they still get another game Saturday to advance

And, I am looking forward to the trip to Santa Fe tomorrow for the seminar presented by Rob Haggart who is the author of blog 'A Photo Editor' http://www.aphotoeditor.com/
I hope I can learn a lot of stuff from this event

Tomé Hill, Good Friday

2010-04-02T13:40:00.005-06:00

I feel upset if I go to an event I really want to go and when I get there I find there are a lot of photographers waiting and even more coming

just like Today, I suddenly lost my interest of shooting

PBR: a story of falling

2010-03-31T21:41:00.006-06:00

March 28, I got a chance to cover the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Invitational at the Pit in Albuquerque. Thank you Jack Carnefix(PBR senior manager of public relations) for giving me the credential.

Along with this gallery, I have another gallery on the Daily Lobo's website: http://www.dailylobo.com/index.php/gallery/professional_bull_riders_in_albuquerque

Besides, I have a quote from another photographer Frank Martin,

'$10,000 or wheelchair, it's your choice'

night walk

2010-03-27T23:35:00.005-06:00

Lorry's cross and unfinished painting

Lorry at the Central&Cornell bus station, in front of the Frontier Restaurant; He comes here almost everyday to wait for a chance to take the food people left on the table

I had a random night walk on Central Ave. tonight and I had a random conversation with this Native American, Drunk, Homeless, Artist

I guess this is my first time taking photos of a Native American and this is the beginning of my 'Homeless' project

back to real

2010-03-26T21:07:00.004-06:00

a UNM baseball player walking back to the field on March 26

Back from an 'extended' Spring Break, I have to adjust my life back to school and work again

I was delayed by the United Airline twice at the Minneapolis airport which made my break in Minnesota longer

Found new scholarships to apply for, got tax to do, got homework to make up........

gotta prepare for the final week

Good things is finally I booked the flight back to China this summer

I'm counting down days now, 53 days till I fly back home

Very excited.

one year loseversary

2010-03-11T02:25:00.007-07:00

@Thomas&Mack Center, Las Vegas, 2009

I still remember the photo I took last year at Las Vegas after New Mexico lost the semifinal game versus Utah at the Mountain West Conference Basketball Tournament

The girls lost the game to the same team again after a heartbreaking overtime

I am not going to the tournament this year

instead I'm enjoying working as a temporary photo editor at the Daily Lobo, editing other freelance photographers' photos and I don't shoot any assignments this week

hopefully the Men's team could make to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, then I will get the chance to go and cover it

--------------------

six and half hour later will be my last mid-term exam

gonna get some sleep then do some review again

I want spring break so bad

--------------------

BTW, I got an email tonight telling me that I am one of the winners of the UNM ISI program summer scholarships.

Thank you Jim Fisher and Catherine Harris for the recommendation letters.

And thank you Jim Montalbano for editing my project proposal.

Looking forward to do my summer documentary project in China.

if lost, relax

2010-03-02T10:47:00.006-07:00

@UNM football practice

A sense of symmetrical is always in my mind when taking photos, doing drawing, making objects

I guess that's because of the Chinese culture

-------------------------

writing a movie analysis on Coen Brother's movie "a serious man" for my expository writing class, it is due at 4pm today, last night I watched this movie the second time, I say this is really well made, now forget about "burn after reading"

grant and scholarship applications are almost done, today I found some other grant opportunities, deadlines are close, I have to hurry up

Adrienne said the UNM Photo Program is going change the south darkroom to a lighting studio, I got so upset of hearing that, is film photography really dying? I still think that is a stupid question to ask people

finally framed a few photos for display in the UNM Student Union Building, very excited to tell my parents

planning on to make a short film this weekend with a digital camera

thinking of taking the LAND/ART New Mexico program next semester

..........

got so many things going on in my mind

I really want to get out of school

but I am planning on applying for grad school, Photojournalism? MFA in Art Studio?

.......

Do artist or photojournalist really need a degree?

I bet you will say NO.

waw, it is already March 2

Valentines Day was more than two weeks ago

St. Patrick's Day is about two weeks later

let's get ready for the green beer

(last year, I was having a great time in Las Vegas.

This year, I will be in Minneapolis, or maybe Chicago.

Looking forward to that)

apeman

2010-02-27T23:18:00.004-07:00

Feb 27@ Mountain West Conference Indoor Track&Field Championship

I've been listening to a song called Apeman over and over again tonight

just like this photo the first second I like it, the second second I don't, the third second yes, the fourth second no......

.....

I think I'm sophisticated
'Cos I'm living my life like a good homosapien
But all around me everybody's multiplying
Till they're walking round like flies man
So I'm no better than the animals sitting in their cages
in the zoo man
'Cos compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees

......

-----------

I've been so stressed-out these days

hope my scholarship applying process could end soon

spring break is right at the corner

homesick

2010-02-26T22:59:00.005-07:00

keep a diary or keep a planner

10 years later, would you read things you've done or things you wanted to do?

I think I am homesick these days

photos from 5 years ago, I wanted to take a lot like these, but I ended up with those 4

Mr. Grumble

2010-02-17T16:12:00.023-07:00

This is the season of anger

I really feel these days I get angry very easily

The day before yesterday I got back from Minneapolis

today I feel the weather in Albuquerque is like summer

that makes me angry

This morning I went to the Metropolitan Court for no seat belt on in my car while waiting for a cop

I couldn't pass the security check because I have my cell phone with

I couldn't put in my vehicle because I biked there

I couldn't put in the locker they provide because I didn't have a quarter

Outside of the courthouse, there's a Mexican lady sitting there to keep people's cellphones, but she charges me a dollar

that makes me angry

UNM baseball practicing @Isotope Park

I think I used to say getting a good moment is like orgasm

But taking photos is to get good moments not just about getting good moments

Just like having sex is get orgasm not just about getting orgasm

I got really tired of hearing people at work and in class, talking about the assignments and using the term 'to get the moment'

Can you please think of something else to use, instead of this word 'moment'

I'm so tired of this

I know most of the photographs are just moments, they happened in less than a second

that makes me angry

I get tired of people telling me print journalism is dying

that makes me angry

I'm getting tired of checking airfares

I really miss my family, I haven't seen my parents more than two years

But why it costs me so much money to go back

that makes me angry

I remember I used to take photos of some suicide scenes by theatre major students and tricking other people that i was a crime scene photographer

I did worked as a crime scene photographer before but that was scary and nasty

I did enjoyed taking photos of the theatre scenes but those were not real

when I looked at the photographs I really want to throw them away

artificial light, artificial scenes, artificial setting, artificial costumes, artificial stories, artificial music,artificial dialogues, artificial face expressions......

that makes angry

Sometimes I feel good while watching people doing what they are doing

I'm an invisible man~~~~

Sitting in a theatre watching a rehearsal, the background music is Lady Gaga

Please save me God, I swear I don't want to hear this AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA anymore

that makes angry

a girl dancing at the rehearsal of the new coming show Dead Man Cell Phone @Theatre X

In this 21st century we have too much entertainment to satisfy us

We are forced to watch so many advertisements, that's more than enough

We have too much choices in clothing stores, in toy stores, in record stores, in movie stores, in restaurants……..

We spent too much money on communication, cell phone, mail, internet, cable

but we still don't think our communication is good

Do we have a lot of what we need

yes

Are we still complaining

yes

We are just so hard to satisfy

Designers keep on killing themselves

that makes me angry

In all

I really want to graduate soon

I don't care if it's a tiny apartment

I hope not

Although I enjoyed flying back and forth between albuquerque and minneapolis again and again

But it costs me a lot of money

that makes me angry

This afternoon, I realized that I get angry easily

On my way to McDonald, a guy gave me a flyer saying "Stress Relief"

"Only $30 for a complete private treatment"

I guess I should stop advertising

that makes me angry

--------------------------------------

No matter what

I really really need to get all my scholarship/grant applications done before March 1

Wish me good luck

life is a vending machine

2010-02-06T23:18:00.005-07:00

Oh boy, oh boy

UNM Lobos almost lost but they went overtime with San Diego State, and beat them at the end

That's the kind of game I want to see, not a team leading 20+ points in the first half, then they play boring in the second half.

Mr. Vander Galien told me he does not want to see his team tight with the other like that, because it's not safe.

Fine, I just care I can good shots or not now, I'm tired of this winning or losing

WIKIPEDIA:

A vending machine provides snacks, beverages, lottery tickets, and other products to consumers without a cashier. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vending_machine)

you know what I mean, don't you

It has been 22 years

2010-02-04T11:49:00.012-07:00

the time I knocked on the door, Don was exercising on his trampoline

"It has been 22 years."

The time I walked in Don's apartment, he told me he has stayed here over 22 years. But at the end of February he has to move out because the owner decides to sell the property.

Don put his jacket and rainbow hat on, he said he feels more comfortable with the colorful hat

"This is my life. On the wall."

He pointed at the wall and told me.

The wall is full of postcards, photographs, paintings, bumper stickers...... and stuff that erotic

And I found this

a love letter to José

Howard Zinn's book "People's History of the United States" which is the one Don think every American should read

Don told me that he never eats cooked food, he said he spends a little more than $1,000 on food in a year

Don sitting in his tiny apartment, at the end of February, he has to take everything on this wall down and move to a new place, but he told me he's going to stay with one of his friends for a short period of time

on an assignment of shooting Don Schrader

maybe I will do a follow up story late this month

may i have your story

2010-01-30T21:29:00.014-07:00

Today is the first day I started knocking on people's doors and asking 'could you please tell me your story?' It used to be my ideal way of taking photos. But today I made the first step. I felt awkward when I was standing in front of the first house I want to 'bother'. Of course I got a 'No'.The second one I felt that I was like a bible salesman. The third one I got over everything.

I went to Rio Bravo Mobile Home Park which is the place every time I drove by I told myself I need to go to and take photos. I have a lot of this kind of places on my shooting list. The result turns out not bad.

Knocked on 55 people's doors. Explained the same thing (just introduce myself and my project). Asked the same question 'do you mind tell me your love story'.

51 said 'No';

3 said 'Not right now, but you can come back tomorrow' ;

1 said 'Si, vienen en' !!!!!!!

with Mom sitting on couch in the back, 9-year old Ariana and her 5-month old dog Modita. Ariana and her elder sister Alejandra did all translation, since their parents don't speak English at all

Su casa no es mi casa

2010-01-30T02:47:00.005-07:00

@Marble Brewery

got back from the TORTUGA Workshop slideshow and after party

Im having a hard time to fall asleep

just realized that I got so many things to accomplish

Saturday, I have a photo shooting for my art class, actually I'd rather call it my own project

then homework, homework and work

after I checked Roberto's blog(http://robertoerosalesblog.com/), I decided to make a 'best of 2009' series maybe also 2008

after I talked to Jakob(http://jakobschiller.com/), I think I am going to try to apply some grant from the university to pay for my trip for doing some documentary projects in China in summer

when looking at my Amazon wish list, I found that I have so many books that I want to own, but I can't, every time I tried to buy the book I told myself, No I can't buy those stuff, I really need to watch out my budget, and I am moving around all the time, I can't afford all of them also carrying them around.

Home is 8,000 miles away. No matter friends telling me 'mi casa es tu casa' , I still don't feel that comfortable. Most of the time, I don't feel that I'm a foreigner, but the problem is some times I do

Be safe

2010-01-29T15:38:00.004-07:00

Eric, Maggie's husband, watching his wife and her son going through the security check in the Albuquerque airport on Jan 28

I got a phone call from Eric Wednesday telling me that Maggie and son Greg were leaving Thursday. Since all the airlines from the US to Haiti are closed. They have to take a boat to Haiti, which is a 4-day trip in the sea.

So far, what I've heard the buses that carry all donations are planning on to leave at the end of February.

Ready for Haiti

2010-01-27T01:35:00.006-07:00

Maggie Doerrer on the phone talking to her husband Eric. Eric told me that he and Maggie are leaving for Haiti earlier than the buses leave, so they can prepare for receiving the donations

In Albuquerque, there is a group people decided to get all the donations together in 5 buses and drive straight to Miami,FL then seek for a way to ship all the stuff to Haiti to help the people there

They are leaving soon, and I will post the follow up later.

Back stage

2010-01-27T00:36:00.010-07:00

I've never thought I can get stories from shooting a track and field game until last Saturday.

Lee Emanuel, UNM athlete, 08-09 NCAA mile champion. He finished the third place in 800 meter run at the UNM Cherry and Silver Invitational game, which is one he was trying to break the school record.

Since he was the last one on my shooting list. I watched him walking around after till I saw him leaving the venue. I told myself that's probably gonna be an interesting story. After I saw him sitting down, I walked across the street and then I got the last shot.

BTW: special thanks to the UNM journalism boot camp, it is a great success

Rainbow Gathering (for workshop)

2010-01-22T17:45:00.012-07:00

The 2009 Rainbow Gathering at Cuba, New Mexico

This is the final project

I take forever to finish my photo editing

I wish Blogspot could display the photos bigger

fitness

2009-11-07T14:20:00.004-07:00

a photo from a funeral I shot this morning, but I'm afraid of entering a Catholic church

Last time I updated this blog was more than three months ago.

A week ago I was in Austin, TX for the National College Media Convention. I came back on Sunday and went directly from the airport to work. And the next day, I felt that story of I was having fun in Austin is a long time ago.

And today is just a week from the Austin trip but I don't feel the distance is only seven days long. However, it makes me feel that's more than that.

Well, everything is going well, school, working at the Lobo, girlfriend and myself. Except our football team is 0-8 now, I dare saying they will be 0-9 tonight.

Sometimes happiness is really simple and easy, a 'Good night babe!' from girlfriend, a 'Good job!' from boss, a 'Thank you!' from a stranger...... something like that

I brought some photo ideas back from Austin. Will work them these days. Maybe I can finish one or two independent projects soon.

A day before my 365th day in the states

2009-08-02T23:49:00.007-06:00

A Sunday without work, makes me feel a little empty and the heat of summer. It's hot in my house and every where else. I planned a lot of things to do, but didn't do any during the day. Finally I went for jogging on the Johnson Field to get rid of all the extra energy. And finished reading some of the books I borrowed from the UNM fine arts library.

There're a few I really like are Elliott Erwitt's 'Personal Exposures' and 'Handbook', Bruce Davidson 'East 100 Street' and 'Circus'. Well, looking at famous artists work always gives me new ideas. But on this lazy, it inspired me to look at my hard drive to seek some old stuff.

I do need to work on my portfolio to seek a job in a bigger newspaper. Since Albuquerque Journal is not hiring anyone. Santa Fe, Las Cruces,... or somewhere in New Mexico or in other state. Nowadays, photographers are just becoming cheap labors.

One good news, we are going to launch the new Daily Lobo website (http://dailylobo.com) very soon. This is the biggest thing I've done since I joined this newspaper. I am very excited about that.

And also tomorrow will be my 365th day in the U.S., which means I haven't seen my family in a year. I should cook some Chinese food to celebrate that I survived here. (Well, my mon once said 'If you can survive in China, you can survive anywhere.' She is probably right.)

football + yoga

2009-07-23T02:45:00.003-06:00

When I got Issac's message yesterday, I laughed out.
The first request I received this week is to take photos of the UNM football players doing yoga. It would be fun to watch those people that are huge doing yoga which is the thing mostly for skinny people and they do it very slow.

A few players showed up, but the ones that attended were concentrated on doing yoga. Very soon, I figured out they seemed more interested in looking that the yoga teacher than doing yoga. ( This is the universal phenomenon but wouldn't been included in the reporter's article.)
Issac told me this lady is Mike Locksley's wife. And Mike Locksley is the UNM football head coach.

ps, Hope UNM football team could do a good job in the coming season. (At least, should be better than last year.)
Well, I really don't understand why the Mountain West Conference has a stupid preseason poll, which picked the Lobos to finish in the 7th place in the 2009 race. ( I don't want to deny the fact that the Lobos didn't do a good job before, but the preseason poll couldn't do any good to motivate the college students. Come on, they are just college kids.)

Renewal (finished project)

2009-07-21T00:44:00.001-06:00

The final selections of this project 'Renewal'.
I shoot most of the photos at the beginning of summer.
(Look down from the top, two photos of each is a pair, hope you can find the connections)

lunch break

2009-07-18T00:08:00.000-06:00

I used my the lunch break to shoot the UNM football team press conference. When I got there I couldn't believe they chose to have it outside. It was 1 o'clock in the afternoon and over 100 degrees.
Well, I got used to it. I'm just complaining.

ps, I just found the color of this photo is different from how it looks like on Photoshop. Even, with the same photo, but different color on the Bridge compared to Photoshop, the latter one is more vivid.

A family and a restaurant (a work in progress)

2009-07-14T13:27:00.000-06:00

It is hard for me to come up with a better name for this series of photos.
Finally, I got the phone call from Brenda: she said the owner would let me take photos of his restaurant, which is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in town. My friend Brenda's whole family works there.
Well, that's the reason I had access to the kitchen and free food~

ps, I find I always need to be ready to answer the question from people 'why do you want to take a photo of me?' Anytime, yeah!!

photographers are poor people

2009-07-09T00:05:00.000-06:00

Have you ever heard of a journalist or a photographer that was a millionaire? I asked my mom this question when we were talking on the phone. Before I said that, she was telling me to save money so I will be able to buy a house or get married....which are the things she thinks are good for me but which also cost a lot of money.

She was upset when I told her the bad news--that the only one way for a photographer to become rich is to win the lottery. Hopefully, one day she will understand, why her son left the shitty country he grew up in and came here to get a job which will never make him rich.
But the good news I told her before I hang up is I am still buying a lottery ticket every week.

Well, I know I always have an excuse for why I am always lack of money, but at least I pay my rent on time every month. But I am thinking about to live in my car in the future, probably in November.

three portrait shots from the Rainbow Gathering 2009

ps, I'm still working on the audio editing(that's pain in the ass), hopefully I can finish the sound slides before the weekend

back from Rainbow Gathering

2009-07-05T22:47:00.000-06:00

Finally I got back Cuba, New Mexico...Even though I was walking in the Sante Fe National Forest looking for my car for at least four hours. With my vocabulary, I can only use the words 'Great' , ' Amazing' and ' Fantastic' to describe everything, but I swear it is much more than that.

Honestly, my first time hearing about this gathering was last Sunday at the budget meeting. Then I checked their website and wikipedia page, figured it out it was gonna be very cool to go and join, though I'd heard there would be a lot of drug use and crazy people( definitely I won't tell my mom about those things).

There were two days camping out with a lot of people in the forest, a place without internet or cell phone service. People put their information on the bulletin board so their friends would be able to find them.

One hour after I got there, I turned my cell phone off.

'You are in Cuba,New Mexico, but here is not Mountain Time anymore. IT'S RAINBOW TIME.’

Third of July, it was getting dark, people were siting there with empty bowls and bottles, waiting for the food and water to be served. The upside-down national flag might seems to offend a lot of people...but they are hippies

Fourth of July. In the morning, it was all silent: no people talked, just gathered there, praying for peace...Then it started to rain.

I was hoping I could stay longer, but unfortunately I had to work on Sunday. I am going next year if I am still in this country.

get it started

2009-07-01T22:16:00.000-06:00

I created this blog a long time ago, but whenever I have the idea to make things good( I mean to make it a serious business), I always have trouble to start it.

Finally, I told myself that, no matter what, I should start doing this.

Here I go...

Photos from the 2,700 miles driving across the South that my friend Nick and I did in June

The border of Texas and Oklahoma

Heavy rain in Missouri

In Kansas, old highways in America are confusing

the Picasa album link: http://picasaweb.google.com/max.hanjf/DrivingAcrossTheSouth#

most of the photos are taken when we were driving

Well, hopefully this is a very bad beginning. The project I am working on is coming soon......