Model Minority Visuals

#1 - For this first photo, I layered two images together. The first image was what is in white of a silhouette and words describing stereotypical Asian tropes and traits. The second image is of a women's side profile looking off to a distance with a saddened expression. The background of the latter looks almost like tiles that reminded me of public restrooms which are often susceptible of graffiti. With this in mind, I layered and combined the two to create a sort of visual that showcases how Asian stereotypes are similar to graffiti on bathroom walls in the sense of being both subtle and evident yet inescapable.

#2 - For this photo, I also utilized the layering tool and played around with the different opacity and filter effects of photopea. The foundation of this photo is the art of the four different portrayals of Asian women. I thought that this art was trying to address the ways in which there is variety in the image of Asian women while also hinting at stereotypes, such as the space buns and what looks like a kimono. I added the top layer of shattered glass to imitate a framed picture falling and breaking. In short, with this photo, I wanted to portray something along the lines of "the shattering of stereotypical perceptions of Asian women is an essential step of deconstructing the Model Minority myth".

#3 - For this last photo, I attempted to utilize the liquify tool between two images of similar instances of different eras. The bottom image was taken on May 16, 1974 in which Asian Americans led the first protest over discriminatory labor practices at Confucius Plaza, New York. This is known as one of the first moments of community and unity in Asian American history. The top image was taken during a recent protest in which the Asian American community was advocating for Stop Asian Hate in reference to the spike of hate crimes due to anti-Asian sentiment associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. With the liquify tool, I tried to blend the images together to show a sense of "deja vu" and emphasize the fact that anti-Asian discrimination and racism is something Asian Americans have been trying to tackle since the past.