Artist Series 013 - Angie Huang

A Conversation with Angie Huang

C&T: Tell us a bit about where you’re from, where you’ve been, and how you began working in the arts?

Angie:

I was born and raised in Texas. I grew up in Dallas and then spent almost 8 years in Austin where I went to school to be a speech language pathologist. I moved out to San Diego in 2021 on a travel therapy contract and haven’t left since. The original plan was to hop around to different cities taking contracts here and there and traveling in between but the longer time went on it just got harder and harder to leave. From Texas to California I’ve never been without a camera. It’s essentially an extension of me. Photography has taken many different forms for me. What started as a little digicam that I would use to take silly pictures of my siblings, & my friends eventually turned into me doing professional portraits like graduation sessions and engagement photos, & then morphed into exploring film photography and selling prints. Nowadays it still seems like a bit of everything, still doing portraits, started blogging, now having my first show but at it’s core it’s always been about documenting life.

 

C&T: Can you talk a bit about the particular body of work you’ve put into this show?

Angie:

This particular collection of photos is very near and dear to me. All photos were taken over the years in China from both my mom’s hometown (Xiamen) and my dad’s hometown (Kunming). As an American born Chinese I feel very privileged to have been able to spend as much time as I have in both these places. There was a period in my life where I lived and worked in Xiamen so I’ve spent more time in Xiamen than I have in Kunming. Xiamen is like a third home, it’s one of my favorite places. It’s this little island off the coast of Mainland China. Almost all of the photos taken in Xiamen were within a 20 minute walk from my grandmothers house, showing you just how much there is on this little island.

 

Tell us a bit about your creative process? What inspires you?

I would say I’m definitely inspired by light, the way it looks, the way it feels and the way it changes throughout the day. I’m inspired by human life, love, people just being. I’m drawn to photographing things that may go overlooked. Honestly, I don’t really feel like I have much of a creative process, sometimes I hesitate to call myself an artist because it feels like all I’m doing is pressing a button. Some of my best photographs were taken during a casual stroll, no expectations. I try my best to make it a practice to just go out, walk around and observe. Even if I’m not feeling inspired I typically always end up capturing something.

What do you hope people take away from your work?

China has always been shut off from the rest of the world. Most of the ways that we get information these days, google, facebook, instagram, TikTok are blocked in China or running separately from the American counterpart. So people outside of China may know general things about Chinese culture but not really know about day to day life over there. I wanted these photos to give a small glimpse into that day to day life. The elderly gathered at the park, the wet markets, the views on people’s daily commutes. I hope these glances into daily life remind people that despite our differences we’re all humans; here to live learn, and take care of one another in the best way we know how. I hope people leave with a sense of curiosity and connection. 

 

Join us Friday 1/31 5pm-8pm at 2911 El Cajon Blvd for the opening reception.

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