Nobu's Skeletal System

chineseinamerica:

In anticipation of the upcoming MOCA exhibition America through a Chinese Lens (opening April 11 – August 27, 2012), a survey of photographs depicting American life as shot by Chinese and Chinese American artists, documentary photographers and non-professionals, we are pleased to launch MOCA’s tumblr page, Scrapbook MOCA, to expand on the show’s themes and engage with our online audiences.

During the run of the show, new media artist and design strategist An Xiao will be shooting and posting photographs regularly as she travels throughout the west and southwest, offering a live visual essay about her America on our tumblr page. Inspired by that project, we’ve surveyed our staff for reflections on their America as seen through a family photograph. Here’s the first photo in this series called My America from Emily Schappler, Visitor Services Manager:

This photo was taken in Monterrey, California in 1990 when my family moved from Virginia to Oregon. When my parents announced their move, their East Coast friends teased them for heading out to “Cowboy Country” (the goodbye party was themed “Heading West with the Chovanec Posse”); I’m not sure what my parents expected—they had visited Oregon for interviews—but the American West we encountered was much different: no iconic dusty landscape of men on horses or food cooked over an open flame or boots pulled on over jeans. The Pacific Northwest was all drizzle and organic granola and socks with Birkenstocks. For my parents, I’m sure the move brought some trepidation (crossing the country wasn’t taken lightly, nor was the move from a diverse urban environment to a sleepy little college town) but for me, that move was all exciting firsts: first time on a plane, first time seeing the Pacific, first time living in a house. I know now that they chose to leave Richmond to seek a better life. Now that I am closer in age to my parents when they made that move, I consider it brave: striking out away from home, to an entirely new place, unsure of what the future would bring but hoping for better opportunities. Which is, I think, the ultimate American journey.

A great blog post my sister wrote about our family’s journey West over two decades ago for the Museum of Chinese in America’s new tumblr.