A VINTAGE MOD INSPIRED SHOOT AND THE CRUSHING WEIGHT OF HUMANITY

| photography

"even in the 1820s , nice guys were saying they always finish last ."

The sheer size of humanity crushes me . It’s like when I fly across the country and I look down at the city below me . So many people living next to each other on top of each other , their lives interweaving with each other . I will never know any of those lives , the paths that’s been taken , the circumstance or experience . 

Think about how many people in even just your neighborhood . You can never fully understand their pain and struggles or joy and triumphs . You can live next door to them or down the street your entire life but live completely different lives . Or small differences in your daily decision or environments can lead you and your neighbors down vastly different roads . There is so much choice and so much in this life and it’s impossible to experience it all . the enormity of that fact is astounding. 

It makes me sad , and oddly nostalgic about a life I will never lead . Maybe thats why I love books and movies and art in general . Maybe that’s why a lot of people like them . It’s the closest thing we can get in experiencing another life . Another narrative . Another perspective that we’re not able to gain with our own limited view of the world . We are so small that we have to tap into each other to see more , o be able to feel and experience more . 

When the internet came into popularity in the late 90’s , bringing humanity closer was a huge selling point . it brought the world together . it made it small . it made it reachable . Now I can know a neighbor in London about as well as my actual neighbor . There is more information and more knowledge , but for me , it lead more to questions and piles more possibilities . 

This is just to talk about my own particular life time . But if you start going down the path of history . Good luck . I have these day dreams about what if i lived in a different era as myself or different people , what could my life have been ? And then you take a bigger step back and looking at the scope of the human experience . I haven’t found the words to describe how extremely insignificant yet monumentally important everything is and the totality of that idea weighs me down as if I’m drowning and can’t get any air . 

I wonder if even though the situational experience may vary , the human emotional range can only span so much . so that even though i was born into this era , the trials and tribulations of life applies universally across time . for example , even in the 1820s , nice guys were saying they always finish last . That takes a little bit of weight off the shoulder . 

This isn’t even tackling the galactically mammoth task of making sense of the world . which is a whole other beautiful headache .

Photographer - Ryan Feng

Model - Sarah Mccreanor

Stylist - Melynda Choothesa

Hair/Mua - Yukina Mitsuhashi

THE BRIGHTEST SPOT IN THE ROOM

 | photography

"no matter who she was around , she would give them her attention , and that person would feel like they were standing in the warmest and brightest spot in the room"

There are many different types of entertainers and different ways that people are entertained . But one of the more popular styles and the story you hear about the most from famous celebrities is the person that lights up the screen and charms their way to stardom . But one of my favorites stories is one where the brightest person in the room and knew how to turn that incredible light onto the people around them . Who along with their great talent , also knew how to turn that sunshine and warm the people around them .

That is one of my favorite things said about the Hollywood Icon Audrey Hepburn . On top of being a brilliant talent , there are many wonderful things said about her as a person off screen in the last century . My favorite thing is that no matter who she was around , she would give them her attention , and that person would feel like they were standing in the warmest and brightest spot in the room . Whether you believe if that was the real Aubrey or if she was putting on a celebrity act depends on where you stand on the scale of cynical to hopeful but I like to think that her charm and beauty doesn’t come from standing in the spotlight but from giving it authentically .

I would have to say that in the couple hours of shooting with Miss Kirsten Collins (who is a talented singer and musician) that she gives a lot of the same energy . Its not always fun to turn it on for the camera and production but with her , I never had the feeling that she was turning it on . It was a pleasure to shoot with her and she had a knack for making sure that everyone was comfortable in the room with her even towards the end of a long day . I wish her the absolute best and I’m sure if you don’t know who she is yet you will soon . 

You can find her music here

Model - Kirsten Collins

Photographer - Ryan Feng

Mua - Phil Loste

Producer - Patrick Chen

DO . DOING . DO IT

12.29.2016 | photography

Over thinking , laziness , excuses , fear , lack of confidence, not enough talent , not enough skill , not enough time , or name any other reason you can think of for why people don't manifest their ideas or projects . I have probably used all of them at some point , and some of them I have on heavy rotation . 

This is why , to work over some of those hurdles , I've presented some creative challenges for myself to tackle every day . First , I will be doing a Snapchat (@justfeng) mission everyday either created by myself or from a recommendation . Second , I will be carrying a point and shoot with me just about everywhere I go shooting through out the day and at the end of the day I will post something new on Instagram . Third , on top of doing photoshoot blog posts twice a week , I will be adding a topic to write about that connects to those photos . 

This brings me (SEGWAY) of course to the quick test shoot I did with this lovely couple . Introducing to you first : Sof the Barber aka. STAYGOLD31

of is a distinguished barber based in Los Angeles with a home base at Grey Matter in NoHo and then at The Lab in West Covina . She has quite a following as a female barber in a male dominated industry as well as having the double talent of doing salon style cuts . She hustles and also is a budding filmmaker constantly creating shorts and videos .

What impresses upon me the most while being around her (full disclosure : I haven't known her a long time) , is that even busy with her career as a barber , every time I'm around her , she's shooting . She's got a lot going for her already and she's still building her rep and clientele , but she's still putting in the time and work to learn something new . Respect . 

There is so many things to tell you about this next person here , first of which is her name : Valerie Ramirez 

Val is an owner of a multi purpose multi creative studio named The Lab in West Covina . The lab feature as a :

• kickboxing (there's a ring)
• fitness (there's a gym)
• Tumbling/tricking/bboying (there's a padded room)
• barbershop (there's a barber chair with a vanity mirror) 
• and dance (there's three dance studios) center .

And if that wasn't enough to fill 24 hours in a day , she was working as a styling assistant for JoyRich , and now moonlighting as a barber . She's also a professional dancer with a killer sense of style and a rapier wit . She has incredible creative vision and CLEARLY gets shit done . 

And that's the thing about Val that I love most . She thinks of a project , makes a decision , and gets it done . Its a trait that I truly admire .