in these eyes lie an endless ocean
in these eyes lie an endless ocean navigates between the emotional barriers of isolation and uncertainty shared amongst different Vietnamese diasporas. The roots of my exploration center around how memories are transmitted between historical and personal narratives and how they are remembered by those who have not lived these specific periods in the past. To preserve a sense of belonging within a vast cultural heritage submerged by traumatic historical events, this intimate series of photographs embraces the multiple and fractured stories we carry within our personal memory and reflects on how grief can reshape who we are. Similar to the vast oceans our families once travelled, these reflections open up an imaginary space in which Vietnam's cultural identity is not yet truly anchored, but instead constantly flowing. In doing so, it shifts toward new possibilities for the (re)imagination of places and the (re)presentation of who we are.
Within these contemplative, fleeting glimpses of memory, our collaborative approach questions how the absence of historical facts creates invisible barriers between intergenerational members and potentially, a sense of alienation from one's own cultural identity. What can be learned from photographs in the absence of stories? As silence and absence fill up the frame, how does one describe their sense of place without a reference? By weaving together various personal experiences in a unified visual narrative, storytelling becomes an attempt to revisit disrupted past histories, allowing us to bridge the gap between Vietnamese ancestors and descendants while revealing a universal and shared desire to belong together in this present time. Longing for a point of origin, these gestures of remembrance trace, gather, and liberate the untold stories of our intertwined historical lineage.
