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Featured Artist Jane Tam
We are delighted to announce Jane Tam as the newest addition to the Nymphoto Collective and on this exciting occasion present her as the August Featured Artist.
Jane has already proven an invaluable member to the Nymphoto community and her decisive vision adds to the collective diverse talent.
A Conversation with Jane Tam, August 2008
NP: Tell us a little about yourself.
JT: I am born and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. I studied Photography at Syracuse University and just graduated May 2008. Traveling, food, and music are other passions of mine. Spring rolls in Laos and waffles in Belgium with a great music playlist on my ipod. Divine!
NP: How did you discover photography?
JT: It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I grew an interest in photography. I attended Laguardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts so I had the opportunity to be inspired by many fields and forms of media. Choosing the photography class as one of my last electives before graduation really motivated me to pay attention to the world around me.
NP: Where do you find inspiration?
JT: Relationships between people and their environment tend to me my main inspiration. The relationships in my family are formed from opposites so there were always eccentric people around me. I had spent a lot of time looking through old family albums and always asked my mother about the relationships of relatives I never came to know. It was the stories told that inspired most of my work.
NP: How did this project come about?
JT: I had just moved to Syracuse for college and moving to such a small city was a big shock for me. I was surrounded by students who grew up in suburbia and never ate any other animal besides chicken and beef for dinner. The culture shock overwhelmed me as I felt more Chinese than ever. It was an identity that stood out for once and I was sort of uncomfortable with it.
I ventured home many weekends to get some comfort from familiar surroundings but I somehow grew apart from the physical home and started to notice the relationships my family and I had with living in Brooklyn. One of the first photographs I took were interior shots of the house; the organized clutter, the tin-foiled stovetop, the multiple calendars in one room, etc. From there, the investigation for the Chinese American in the backdrop of America began as I started to focus on the members of the family.
The title "Foreigners in Paradise" seemed appropriate for the series because paradise can never be considered home. It is always a dream location therefore no matter how amazing America may have been for my grandparents and parents, there are always times of feeling both an insider and an outsider.
NP: What's next?
JT: I hope to continue the "Foreigners in Paradise" series and work on a new series as well. Currently I am participating in two upcoming group exhibitions. I will be showing ten photographs from the series in Pingyao, China for "Seeking Identity", an exhibition within the Pingyao International Photography Festival from September 19-26, 2008. Also, I will be showing some images in Northlight Gallery in Tempe, Arizona, as part of the Society for Photographic Education: Women's Caucus Exhibition from October 20- November 15, 2008.
To view more of Jane Tam's work visit www.janetam.com.