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April 14, 2004

The Hapa Project

link via cheesedip

“Artist Kip Fulbeck has photographed hundreds of people of all ages for The Hapa Project, the first collection of its kind giving Hapa individuals the chance to tell who they are in their own words and images. All subjects are photographed identically from the collarbone up without jewelry or glasses, suggesting the preliminary opportunity of phenotypic speculation — an everyday public occurrence for multiracial individuals. In an attempt to counter this racial scrutinization, however, is the immediate disclosure of the subject’s ethnicity, listed directly below their image. Furthermore, the individual’s hand-written response to the question “What are you?” empowers the subject to voice their opinion and challenge the common visual perception of the corresponding image. Viewed together, these individual portraits and statements evidence the extreme cultural, social, end ethnic diversity of the multiracial canon. The project will manifest in both a photographic book and traveling exhibition.”

This is a fantastic project. I could look at faces, portraits all day long. I like the starkness of these photographs, and I especially like how the subjects get to define “What are You?” in their own writing and words beneath their photographs, although the young Filipino/Irish/Mexican boy damn near broke my heart in two.

Posted by pogo at April 14, 2004 12:21 PM

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Comments

Nice, especially the “what are you” part, since that’s the question other people normally answer for you.

The surprising thing about seeing this is that I think Kip Fulbeck is actually a friend of a friend of mine.

Posted by: jacob on April 14, 2004 1:08 PM

If someone asks, “what are you?” the only proper response is a demure smile and a kick in the crotch.

Posted by: tam on April 14, 2004 4:59 PM

I don’t mind if they ask first.

Posted by: jacob on April 14, 2004 5:19 PM

I think it’s interesting that in America, the word used for people with parents of different ethnicities is “half-“, whereas in Japan, it’s more like “double.”

Posted by: Karla on May 20, 2004 4:12 AM