Zhang O: “Daddy & I” Photographic Project

Royal College of Art, Photography graduate Zhang O has a project documented on her site titled “Daddy & I” which captures portraits of adopted Chinese daughters and their Caucasian fathers.

I actually don’t know anyone in this situation but I find these photos compelling viewing, if anything, because they unnerve me slightly. Why is that?

Technorati Tags: adopted Chinese daughters, art, China, Daddy & I, photography, Zhang O

From ArtKrush:

Zhang O’s portraits of adopted Chinese daughters and their Caucasian fathers feel much of our cultural moment, humanizing conceptual divides between East and West and the ever-changing constitution of the 21st-century family unit.

Zhang’s digital prints present her subjects in manicured public parks — under cherry blossom trees, next to garden paths, and in front of spraying fountains — underscoring tensions between nature and nurture. Some grammar-school-aged girls hug their middle-aged fathers by the arms and legs; others warm in their fathers’ embraces. All of the subjects share complicated looks of love that scale the thorny walls of cultural politics and negotiate fuzzy boundaries of personal identity — looks searching for a place called home.

More on Zhang O’s website

Via ArtKrush