American Photography 39 Winners

Dreaming by the Hudson

Dreaming on the Hudson is an ongoing project examining the Hudson River Valley and the relationship between my friends and this classically American landscape. October 2022. Inspired by the Hudson River School’s romanticized paintings of the river valley, I document, portray, and imagine these Asian American men as stewards of this pastoral, sublime land. The Hudson represents a site for individual and collective nonconformity to examine and invert the male gaze and the history of land ownership and power. Through intimate scenes of togetherness, rebellion, and freedom, my friends visualize an escape from culturally idealized, hegemonic masculine identities of the West and ultimately imagine a way out, holding up a mirror that reflects the very reality we live in.

Dreaming by the Hudson

Dreaming on the Hudson is an ongoing project examining the Hudson River Valley and the relationship between my friends and this classically American landscape. November 2022. Inspired by the Hudson River School’s romanticized paintings of the river valley, I document, portray, and imagine these Asian American men as stewards of this pastoral, sublime land. The Hudson represents a site for individual and collective nonconformity to examine and invert the male gaze and the history of land ownership and power. Through intimate scenes of togetherness, rebellion, and freedom, my friends visualize an escape from culturally idealized, hegemonic masculine identities of the West and ultimately imagine a way out, holding up a mirror that reflects the very reality we live in.