November 13, 2009
Jersey City native Maria Lau, a photographer who explores Chinese-Cuban heritage through her work, will be showcasing her photo-documentary at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton until Jan. 3, 2010. The "71. Fragments of a Dream" exhibit, originally slated to end Nov. 24, has been extended because of the incredible response to Lau's photography.
The 19 photographs were collected during Lau's search for her family history. The exhibit also has a video Lau created during her journey, which can be played in English and Spanish. There are also letters, documents and family photographs that Lau has collected over the years.
Lau has been photographing Cuba since 1998, and the series was motivated by Lau's hope of uniting her Cuban and Chinese families.
"I never imagined that the project would evolve the way it has," Lau said.
Lau's photography is unique in that she uses the in-camera double exposure feature to capture multiple images in a single picture frame. Through this method, Lau's work has layers of exposures, which allows for multiple interpretation for viewers, said Margaret O'Reilly, New Jersey State Museum's curator of fine art.
"Because Lau's photographs are personal, there will always be something indecipherable to the viewer," O'Reilly said.
The project became especially important to Lau after the 2004 American policy changes on travels to Cuba. Because Lau was no longer legally allowed to visit Cuba, she said she felt her project falling apart.
To read more go to: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1258097124201150.xml&coll=3
November 13, 2009
Jersey City native Maria Lau, a photographer who explores Chinese-Cuban heritage through her work, will be showcasing her photo-documentary at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton until Jan. 3, 2010. The "71. Fragments of a Dream" exhibit, originally slated to end Nov. 24, has been extended because of the incredible response to Lau's photography.
The 19 photographs were collected during Lau's search for her family history. The exhibit also has a video Lau created during her journey, which can be played in English and Spanish. There are also letters, documents and family photographs that Lau has collected over the years.
Lau has been photographing Cuba since 1998, and the series was motivated by Lau's hope of uniting her Cuban and Chinese families.
"I never imagined that the project would evolve the way it has," Lau said.
Lau's photography is unique in that she uses the in-camera double exposure feature to capture multiple images in a single picture frame. Through this method, Lau's work has layers of exposures, which allows for multiple interpretation for viewers, said Margaret O'Reilly, New Jersey State Museum's curator of fine art.
"Because Lau's photographs are personal, there will always be something indecipherable to the viewer," O'Reilly said.
The project became especially important to Lau after the 2004 American policy changes on travels to Cuba. Because Lau was no longer legally allowed to visit Cuba, she said she felt her project falling apart.
To read more go to: http://www.nj.com/entertainment/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1258097124201150.xml&coll=3