SINGLES
STORIES & PROJECTS
PADDLING
THROUGH CHRONIC ILLNESS (PHOTO)
I spent time with Jess Newport, a resident of Raleigh, North Carolina, that suffers from chronic pain and illness, who captains the Chemo-Kazes. The Kazes are a team of dragon-boaters, drawn together by the shared experience of chronic illness. Produced as a member of the Media Hub team at UNC-Chapel Hill.
ROOTED
IN CULTURE
(PHOTO)
During an environmental reporting trip to Belize through the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, I met Julio Saqui, an indigenous Mayan chocolatier working to preserve his culture and tradition of chocolate-making. Through him, I met and spent time with his brother, Narciso Saqui, who tends to the cacao farm inherited from his father. The Saqui's made the switch when Narciso was a boy, just ahead of a citrus blight that spread across Belize. Produced with a multimedia team for Barriers, an International Project.
WHAT
LEARNING LOOKS LIKE
(PHOTO)
In 2020, during the height of COVID-19 pandemic, I was commissioned by Newsroom By the Bay to figure out the visuals to accompany essays written by high school students globally about their experiences with lockdown. After much brainstorming, I came up with the idea to take portraits via FaceTime, then set to work directing numerous high schoolers and producing many, many portraits.
MOUNTAIN
HAVEN
(VIDEO)
The idea: take 15 college students in the visual communications program at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, embed them in a small community in North Carolina, and tell them by the end of a week, they have to have produced a short doc. This was the result after my week in the Carolina Photojournalism Workshop 2022, Where Rivers Meet.
LEE'S
ONE FORTUNE
(AUDIO)
Tou and Chue's story mirrors many members of the Southeast Asian diaspora. Fleeing persecution in the jungles of Thailand, they made their way to the United States as refugees. After longing for the flavors of home in an unfamiliar country, decades on, they started Lee's One Fortune Farm. Family-owned and -run, they produce many of the Asian veggies you can't get your hands on elsewhere. They were the ones to introduce rice to farmer's markets across Western North Carolina.
THAT'S
A DYNASTY
(PHOTO)
I spent a season with the Chapel Hill High School soccer team. Their camaraderie was palpable, and their team culture was one of togetherness - even with a handful of loyal, departing seniors. During my time with them, they led in an undefeated season. Up until one of the games of the playoffs.
AN ACT
OF FAITH
(PHOTO)
When he was in Naples, Florida, John Campbell was a broker type - a salesmen through-and-through. When his wife wanted to move to North Carolina to be closer to their daughter studying at university, he decided he would drop everything and start a farm. He emphasizes community ties and regenerative agriculture.
OTHER COOL CLIPS
Hey! Glad you made it down here. Listen, I can't put all my links here.
But here are just a few that I'm fond of:
From Afghan interpreter to US homeless - the long road to the American dream (BBC)
Fake news? No jobs? Prospective journalists soldier on (Associated Press)
Bicyclists ride to “spark hope” for cancer patients in Unlooped (Charlotte Observer)
New restaurant Vana hoping to open mid-July amid pandemic (Charlotte Observer)
Students, parents rally for nun let go at Charlotte Catholic (Charlotte Observer)
Cancer survivors Chemo Kazes race dragon boats in Raleigh ... (Raleigh News & Observer)
Friday nights: Football, friendship and seeing the game (Greensboro News & Record)
Call to arms: Black women embrace gun ownership, too (Charlotte Post)
In their own words: What remote learning has looked like ... (Chalkbeat)
Dad and daughter catch 'all the great memories'... (WRAL)
Dustin Duong - The Daily Tar Heel (Daily Tar Heel - this is my staff page, where you can see basically everything I've done for them if you scroll down and click "More Media" on the site)