Born and raised in Taiwan, I came to the United States for a high school exchange program in Pennsylvania. Later, I continued my education at Luther College in northeast Iowa. While at Luther, I gained a strong sense of community and appreciation of the Norwegian heritage, as the college was founded by Norwegian immigrants. During my junior year, I was able to travel overseas to study Norwegian an
d Scandinavian cultures in the Telemark region (I was located just two hours southeast of Norway’s capital, Oslo). The beauty of Norwegian landscapes and fjords inspired me to pursue a career in travel and documentary photography. Later in the semester, I joined a group of Luther students in Italy and France to learn about the broad vision of "breaking bread and making peace" in the rural communities of Assisi and Tai'ze. I have extensive travel experience and am passionate about different cultures, languages, and photography. I am fluent in Chinese and Taiwanese, and have a conversational command of Norwegian. My years spent working in still photography gave me a firm understanding of camera work, and the overall experience taught me to be a people person, skills I was able to segue into my cinematography career at Valparaiso University's Marketing Department while attending graduate school. In the summer of 2010 & 2011, I had the fantastic opportunity to work as a photo instructor with a National Geographic Student Expedition tour group of young students in China. While in rural Sichuan, we were able to observe the endangered panda up close and study them from conservation and sustainability standpoints. It is always exciting to explore new territories and interact with locals and vivid cultures. I would say that I am fortunate to have had such life-changing opportunities, experiences that have led me to want to continue doing what I love most; that is, being a photographer. This vision has, and will continue to, motivated me to explore many part of the world and to tell the stories of these people and things via photography.
18/02/2021
Shot a Taiwanese wedding for my younger cousin. Good time!