22.11.2022 • Views

VOLUME IX: FABLES

Every culture has a story to tell and share. Through the lens of the photographers and the eye of the designers, the FABLES told vocally and in the written text are expressed visually to communicate shared history and teach new cultural traditions. The fantastical nature of these photoshoots brings us back to a time when our parents and grandparents would tell us bedtime stories and legends about our culture. With this edition, we are passing down these stories of inspiration, and hope that readers can draw influence from them as well.

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Son Tinh Thuy

Tinh

Son Tinh, Thuy Tinh is a well-known Vietnamese myth that explains

the yearly flood and tidal of their country. Son Tinh is the lord of the

mountain and Thuy Tinh is the lord of the sea. They were competing

against each other to win over princess Mi Nuong and become her

groom. Son Tinh won the competition and Thuy Tinh got angry.

Therefore, every year he raises the sea level and creates a flood to

show his eternal vindictiveness.

Our photoshoot is inspired by this legend. Son Tinh, the lord of the

mountain, is in black and gold to represent the mountain and the

land. Thuy Tinh, the lord of the sea, is in blue to represent the sea.

We chose the architecture school building because of its unique

architecture. The stairs give us a variety of heights and create a

sense of a mountain. Their common space furniture blocks are blue

to represent the sea.

Butterfly Lovers

This Chinese legend involves two lovers who weren’t able to be

together. The woman of the story, Zhu Yingtai, dresses as a man

to pursue an education and meets the male of the story, Liang

Shanbo, while studying. Zhu reveals her true gender years after

studying with Liang, but it’s too late since Zhu is already betrothed to

someone else that she doesn’t love. Liang grows ill and dies from the

heartache. Zhu later visits Liang’s grave on her stormy wedding day.

Two butterflies are seen at the grave once the rain passes and Zhu is

gone. Both models are dressed in the same attire to represent Zhu’s

male presentation, the butterflies allude to the butterflies seen at

the grave, the red and gold are associated with the color of weddings

in China (since Zhu dies on her wedding day), and the red thread is

a literal depiction of the red thread of fate which is an East Asian

symbol for soulmates- they will end up together no matter what

obstacles are thrown their way.

Year of the Tiger -

Xiangxin

Year of the Tiger - Xiangxin was inspired by the traditional,

cultural, and historic significance behind Chinese New Year and

its corresponding Chinese zodiac. In China, the 15-day festival is

bursting with vibrant red and gold, fireworks, family reunions, and

loud celebrations to honor deities and ancestors. With 2022 being

the year of the tiger, which is traditionally thought to symbolize

power, respect, and bravery, we sought out confident, fierce models

who radiated the spirit of a tiger and were able to radiate that

spirit throughout the shoot. The celebration of Chinese New Year

is explosive, colorful, and loud, so we are privileged to have had the

opportunity to work with models who took such bright, iconic colors

and bold poses by the reigns and made them their own.

Storylines The Monster’s Home is My Body For our shoot, we explored the ideas of growing up as a child with this “monster” created in our households by our parents to instill fear in us to do certain tasks and chores and internalize certain values. These monsters are used to direct our actions without explanations of why we should or should not do things. With the dark makeup and styling, we focused on this mythical creature to emphasize the eerieness of it: we grow up to be so familiar with it that it almost becomes us as well, as we are shaped by the values it embodies. The blurring of what we fear and of what we become so intertwined, we begin to fear ourselves. The Crow and the Serpent Our shoot is centered around the fable, “The Crow and the Serpent”. In the fable, we see a crow that has built a nest for its eggs in a tree in the forest. However, on the base of that same tree, lives a serpent. Every day when the crow would be away, the serpent would go up and eat all the eggs. To get back at the serpent, the crow then steals the queen’s necklace and puts it in the serpent’s den. The queen’s guards took the serpent away and the crow successfully outsmarted the snake. We incorporated the cunningness of the crow and naïveté of the serpent into our shoot and also featured the queen’s necklace that sealed the serpent’s fate. The makeup heightened the emotions and traits of the animals and the South Asian clothing paid homage to the origin of the fable.

Son Tinh Thuy Tinh Son Tinh, Thuy Tinh is a well-known Vietnamese myth that explains the yearly flood and tidal of their country. Son Tinh is the lord of the mountain and Thuy Tinh is the lord of the sea. They were competing against each other to win over princess Mi Nuong and become her groom. Son Tinh won the competition and Thuy Tinh got angry. Therefore, every year he raises the sea level and creates a flood to show his eternal vindictiveness. Our photoshoot is inspired by this legend. Son Tinh, the lord of the mountain, is in black and gold to represent the mountain and the land. Thuy Tinh, the lord of the sea, is in blue to represent the sea. We chose the architecture school building because of its unique architecture. The stairs give us a variety of heights and create a sense of a mountain. Their common space furniture blocks are blue to represent the sea. Butterfly Lovers This Chinese legend involves two lovers who weren’t able to be together. The woman of the story, Zhu Yingtai, dresses as a man to pursue an education and meets the male of the story, Liang Shanbo, while studying. Zhu reveals her true gender years after studying with Liang, but it’s too late since Zhu is already betrothed to someone else that she doesn’t love. Liang grows ill and dies from the heartache. Zhu later visits Liang’s grave on her stormy wedding day. Two butterflies are seen at the grave once the rain passes and Zhu is gone. Both models are dressed in the same attire to represent Zhu’s male presentation, the butterflies allude to the butterflies seen at the grave, the red and gold are associated with the color of weddings in China (since Zhu dies on her wedding day), and the red thread is a literal depiction of the red thread of fate which is an East Asian symbol for soulmates- they will end up together no matter what obstacles are thrown their way. Year of the Tiger - Xiangxin Year of the Tiger - Xiangxin was inspired by the traditional, cultural, and historic significance behind Chinese New Year and its corresponding Chinese zodiac. In China, the 15-day festival is bursting with vibrant red and gold, fireworks, family reunions, and loud celebrations to honor deities and ancestors. With 2022 being the year of the tiger, which is traditionally thought to symbolize power, respect, and bravery, we sought out confident, fierce models who radiated the spirit of a tiger and were able to radiate that spirit throughout the shoot. The celebration of Chinese New Year is explosive, colorful, and loud, so we are privileged to have had the opportunity to work with models who took such bright, iconic colors and bold poses by the reigns and made them their own.

Page 1: VOLUME IX: FABLES
Page 6: THE MONSTER’S HOME IS MY BODY
Page 12: The Crow and the Serpent
Page 30 and 31: YEAR OF THE TIGE XIAN
Page 34: Photographers | Dylan Chen, Akash D
Page 37: ACTIVE TEAM MEMBERS PHOTO TEAM Dyla

VOLUME IX: FABLES

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