Are You A Nice Guy?Wes, Ted and Phil. The three guys that are more commonly known as Wong Fu Productions. Since their days making music videos to their breakthrough video "Yellow Fever," Wong Fu Productions has constantly broke ethnic barriers for young Asian Americans and have provided a platform to showcase Asian Americans in the media. Unhindered by conventional portals to mainstream media, WFP continues to employ Youtube and social media as outlets for their work. As artists, they innovate, experiment and create. To me, they inspire.
At their very core, Wong Fu Productions is simply three individuals trying to make an imprint on contemporary media. What they may lack in budget, they supplant with creativity. Where they lack in actors and actresses, they replace with friends and family. When they had no voice, they relied on support of their prodigious fan following. Their monumental success is nothing short of their unwavering passion and creative vision.
When designing my latest shoot, I wanted to pay tribute to a group of grassroot individuals that continue to inspire me. It’s was never the technical prowess of their gear but the latitude of their imagination that allowed WFP to create. Likewise, it’s not the camera that takes pictures, it’s the photographer. I wanted to remain true to this.
Modeling their brand of clothing and apparel, “Are You A Nice Guy?” Twin and I set out to spend a day embracing their principles. No budget, just two NG’s out to push the boundaries of our creative potential, creating imagery and loving every minute of it. Sprinkle on some Twinie Me dust (pic. 15), some magical levitation (16) and a whole lot of muscle (29), we synergistically infused Wong Fu Production into our own style of photography.
The shoot took place along the cliffs of San Pedro in a “No Trespassing” region known as Sunken City. Conveniently, despite the warning signs, there’s a hole under a fence on the northwest entrance that grants you access to this graffiti-centric gem. Enjoy it while it lasts. And the view from the cliffs of San Pedro? Breathtaking.
*Made it to the Wong Fu Blog!
http://wongfuproductions.com/2011/04/cue-the-aww/Location: Sunken City, San Pedro
Gear: D700, 35 1.4G, 85 1.4G
