We Are Tiger Dragon People

With the help of a Fulbright fellowship, I began photographing for We are Tiger Dragon People in 2008. 25 of the 55 minority tribes of China reside in Yunnan Province and comprise less than 8.5% of the nation’s population, with the Han representing the majority.

My mother is a member of the black Yi tribe; her grandfather was Lung Yun 龙云, governor of Yunnan from 1927-1945 and commander-in-chief of the 1st Army Group. Learning about my Yi ancestry in my mid twenties inspired me to begin this work and is still in progress. I would like to share an article with you about Lung Yun here.

With a generous award from the Leeway Foundation and the Swatch Art Peace Hotel artist residency in Shanghai, I have extended the project to include ethnic minority groups outside of Yunnan Province. This project has also been funded by the Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Independence Foundation, Puffin Foundation and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. I am grateful to the artist residencies that have given me the time and support to continue working on this project, including the Visual Artist Network, Yaddo, the Macdowell Colony, Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, Institute for Electronic Arts at Alfred University and Vermont Studio Center.