Ever since I first heard of the last matriarch society in the world, I knew I had to go there.

In a remote part of China, only accessible by a 5 hour car ride, I learned about a world where women dictate finances, inherit property, and make most family decisions. The Musuo do not marry; women take as many lovers as they would like. They also live in a beautiful part of China - beside a crystal blue lake in the mountains that some describes paradise.

This month, Wild Junket magazine published my photos of the Musuo tribe in their Winter 2012 issue. I am so glad that the magazine ran this 8 page spread. The Musuo tribe - their life and their settlement - fascinated me so much. I can't wait to go back there some day.

If you are not a reader of Wild Junket yet, you can subscribe to their newsletter and get the digital versions of the magazine for free. I hope you have a chance to look through the magazine and I hope you enjoy these photos!

Toronto is not my city.

I have said this before, and nothing has changed since I moved here 5 months ago, Toronto is just not my city. I am fine living here for now, but I don’t see myself settling down here in the long run. And that is all ok except my inability to connect with this city means I didn't feel inspired to photograph it.

So what happens when a photographer doesn’t feel like photographing?

Well, you make yourself take photographs. Last month, I finally stopped whining about living in a city that wasn’t my first choice and started acting like a professional. I dragged myself out of my apartment and forced myself look at this city without my reservations.

I started off simple. I like old buildings and brick walls, so I found old brick buildings and photographed them. I've always been a fan of back-lit photos so I shot subjects into the sun. Where I didn’t feel inspired to shoot, I looked for something - even a tiny detail or a glimpse of a moment - to inspire me. Whether it's a fashionable biker at the intersection or an alley of color in flash graffiti, I found things that caught my eye and I photographed it.

I stopped for a cappuccino and window-shopped. I made an urban adventure out of it. For months, I had been yearning for every chance to get out of the city - 3 trips to San Francisco, 2 to New York, and 1 to Vancouver - but, as it turns out, there are gems to be found in this city too.

There is an energy about the Stanford campus - a sense of liveliness and excitement. I think they call it "college".

I had gone to photograph Stanford University with a fellow photographer and family friend Andrew. I had spent the previous night and all morning looking at Andrew's distinct black and white close-ups of nature and architecture, which in turn made me focus more on contrast and details on my visit to the campus. I had to photograph the location in harsh afternoon light, which casted harsh shadows and overexposed highlights. Although it is not the best light for images, I'm not always able to avoid photographing outdoors at high noon. In this case, I played up the contract of shadows and light. I also enjoy shooting against the light and spent most of the afternoon creating sun flares.

The more I visit California, the more I'm realizing that the overcast fall and winter in Toronto has made me want to photograph less. By the nature of being a travel photographer, I prefer to shoot in natural light, and the lack of it in Canadian winter is slowly eroding my creative soul. Hopefully, when we get more snow up in the true North I'll feel more inspired. Until then, I'll always have California.

What have I accomplished?

In order to be known as a traveler and travel photographer, I decided that I needed to be seen in the travel industry. So I made it a point to get published both online and in print in relevant industry media. To date, I have photographed and written 14 guest blog posts, 2 magazine publications, and 1 newspaper article. I have been featured on 6 online publications as a travel photographer and I became a contributor for Untapped Cities - an online travel guide and magazine, put together by locals, expert photographers, and writers. Whew, not bad!

I also travelled extensively. I went to Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco (half a dozen times), and New York. I photographed Cuba, the ethnic minorities in southern China, and travelled all over Scandinavia. I spent 10 weeks abroad and a total of 15 weeks on the road. I accumulated a collection of images that I'm very proud of.

Oh yeah, I also moved to Toronto.



What should I have done better?

I should have networked more. I am just not good at going out to meet new people. I particularly had a hard time in Toronto when I first moved here, where I would go to a travel or a photography event and know nobody else in the room. But excuses excuses, I should have figured out a way to put myself out there more. If I don’t put myself out there in the industry, in front of the right people, then how else will the right people find me?

What do I hope to accomplish in the next 10 months?

Elevate my work.



Artists can get really insecure sometimes and I am victim to that as well. I love travel photography and it is the right place for me. I had always known that I was not meant to be a fashion photographer even when I was photographing models and editorials.  But now, when I look at the work of other fashion photographers, somewhere in my heart of hearts, I still miss that crazy world of fashion I left behind.