Stateside Daily Archive5 Feb 2025

Photographer Jarod Lew on family, memory, and the Asian American experience

The University of Michigan Museum of Art is hosting a new exhibit by photographer Jarod Lew. In, Strange You Never Knew, Lew delves into the complexities of knowing one's true identity, focusing on the Asian American diaspora in the Midwest.

In his photographs, Lew has his subjects looking directly at the camera. He explains that this creative choice is intended to establish a tension between the subjects and the viewer. By capturing images in Asian American homes, he creates a sense of tension that arises from viewing these private interior spaces and the experiences of the subjects.

In his series, In Between You and Your Shadow, Lew explores what tomorrow holds for his subjects. In his photographs, he captures his mother’s history through gestures and memorabilia from her past.

Lew's mother was engaged to Detroiter Vincent Chin, a young Chinese American engineer who was beaten to death by two white men, at a time when anti-Asian racism was widespread in Michigan. Chin’s death was a touchstone for Asian American political activism, but for Jarod Lew’s family, it was a secret he only discovered as a young adult. He includes images of his family in the show, and while his mother is also photographed, her face is never visable.

"For me this work speaks to my mom's right for opacity. My mom's right not to be associated with this history, because it's her decision to not want to be a part of this history," Lew said.

GUEST:

Jarod Lew, photographer behind the Strange You Never Knew exhibit at the University of Michigan Museum of Art

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(1141)

Do you have the stuff to be a Great Lakes lighthouse keeper?

The Stateside Podcast is taking a summer break as producers prepare a new podcast project that's all about Michigan. You can download or stream the new Stateside On Air podcast, which is the full dail...

3 Jul 202518min

Chef Abra Berens on what to do with your summer strawberries

There is something special about strawberry season in Michigan: that brief moment of the year when we trade the pale gigantic plastic clamshell berries for the sweet, deep red jewels of in-season stra...

2 Jul 202513min

Could whitefish disappear from Lake Michigan and Lake Huron?

Whitefish populations in the lower Great Lakes have been declining for decades. Bridge Michigan environment reporter Kelly House joined Stateside to discuss what’s threatening the iconic fish, and wha...

1 Jul 202513min

M.L. Elrick on local journalism and the state of newspapers

This summer, the Scripps Howard Fund gave Detroit Free Press reporter M.L. Elrick an award for his column “On Guard”, in which he publishes all manner of exposes, in the muckraking tradition. Back in...

30 Jun 202523min

Around the world in 499 days

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

27 Jun 202524min

Rising from the wreckage: Kegan Gill's Phoenix Revival

For a pilot, ejecting mid-flight is always a bad scenario. Lt. Kegan "Smurf" Gill narrowly escaped from a fighter jet traveling 695 miles per hour, approaching the speed of sound. It’s the fastest sur...

26 Jun 202524min

How Iranian American identity has shifted with global politics

Everything you hear on Stateside is made possible by listener support. Please become a member today and help keep Michigan Public strong. In the wake of the U.S. military airstrikes on Iranian nuclear...

25 Jun 202520min

Ann Arbor's summer reading game goes way beyond books

As the weather heats up in Michigan, so does the excitement of the Ann Arbor District Library's 15th annual Summer Game. We talked to AADL library director Eli Neiburger about the origins of the belov...

24 Jun 202519min