A
Brief
Introduction

I have always lived on the edges - observing the world around me. Collecting.

This habit was planted in me from a young age. As a mixed Taiwanese American, I always had an innate awareness of two worlds growing up. Learning to navigate the in-betweens and edges of my mother and father’s separate cultures, families, languages, and paces of life. All the while admiring the love and common threads that connect us all.

I’ve come to appreciate and learn from both worlds - I think my upbringing has led to a knack for thinking outside the box, accepting different ways of doing things, being adaptable and comfortable in different spaces and situations, and learning to keep a focus on the big picture.

These beliefs shape the foundation of my work. I’ve spent the past decade of my career refining my craft, adopting an empathetic approach to collecting and archiving other people’s memories, and creating cinematic images of real life moments.

Our memories are our personal legacies. These are the treasures that are kept for ourselves - as we sojourn on in life. I believe that amidst hardships and difficulties, we must celebrate and hold onto the good - capturing those memories is cherishing and fighting for the joy and value of our existence. It’s an act of honoring where you’ve come from. Photographs are a vessel for us to cherish and share those experiences. I believe this work is more than just pretty pictures, it’s valuing our very life journey.

Every image is a small witness to something greater. This work is at its best when, as filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky penned, you “sense something significant, truthful, going on beyond the events of the screen; when you realize quite consciously, that what you see in the frame is not limited to its visual depiction, but is a pointer to something stretching out beyond the frame and to infinity; a pointer to life.”

My name is Stephen, and I am honored to be a caretaker of your memories. Through my lens, I get to give what it is that I too seek: Something to hold dear, to reflect on, and to aid in love and meaning. Your soul souvenirs.

I welcome the opportunity to work with people from all walks of life. I operate with the values of honesty, inclusion, and hospitality.