Day ’N’ Night: 24-Hour Hip-Hop Studies
We get real with the ‘Realest’ project
New York-based photographer and designer Ennis Chung has documented the unseen lifestyles of the people who she believes form the bedrock of hip-hop culture.
For her newest project, ‘Realest’, Chung spends a full 24 hours with each of her subjects and photographs “the in-between moments” of their lives. The resultant project is an organic “visual essay” on hip-hop.
Chung was inspired simply by being in proximity to the hip-hop community and just wanted to share the stories she had come across. “Everyone had such good energy about them and were extremely motivated in their own lanes, which fueled my own goals and aspirations. I just wanted to do something that showcased all that to a bigger audience than just myself,” she explains. Chung has celebrated their work with her images, staying true to her artistic manifesto “to spread positive energy through my work to as many people as I can.”
Chung began the groundwork for the Realest project by building up example 24-hour content with friends and colleagues. She was then able to pitch her concept to potential subjects, who were, for all intents and purposes, strangers. She explains: “The majority of the people I’ve shot with were people I met in person for the first time pretty much right when we began our 24 hours”, she explains. “There’s been a few people who were like, ‘Wow really? A full 24 hours?’ And I would just say, ‘Yep, a full 24.’ Once they realized I was committed, I think it just brought them more confidence to work with me because it showed I’m dedicated.”
Chung states that her subjects’ comfort was key and that it was essential to put each host at ease. She explains: “I’m an empath; I feel other people’s energies and it helps me gauge situations.” Chung cites her own willingness to share as key, saying “If they’re opening up their homes and lives to me, I think it’s only right I do the same.” She says that very soon it was “like hanging out with the homies on any regular day,” but adds that she also gained a lot from the experience. “I’ve been lucky enough to be around such great people and have opportunities to pick their brains more and learn things,” she adds, “I’m just here to learn.”
When questioned if she was ever worried that her presence would change the behaviour of any of her subjects, she says that this is “…something I always keep in the back of my mind when I’m with my subjects so that I can be more aware, but not really. Before we shoot, I brief people and I make sure to really drive the point home that nothing should be set up just for the purpose of trying to look more active. I go off my intuition a lot so I can tell when something isn’t natural.” Faking it comes with a cost and Chung regularly warns her subjects that “…if they try to pull anything out of the ordinary, I just won’t use the session in my project — I’m being as real as possible — and so far everything’s been Gucci.”
“There’s a stereotypical type of content associated with hip-hop and I’d like to be known as a source of unfiltered truth.”
Chung keeps her 24-hour shooting gear simple; “I always use my old Canon EOS Rebel XS (35mm film camera). It’s perfect as it’s light, durable, has an excellent metering system and a handy pop-up flash”. Her kit choice is driven partly out of a requirement to be mobile (so as to follow her subjects wherever they go) but also because she has an attachment to a kit that’s served her well. Foregoing digital for film, her pics have an old-school feel that suits the veracity of her work. She adds: “I only shoot on Lomography 800, 35mm film, and once in awhile I bring out a couple rolls of the Ilford Delta 3200 for special occasions. For scanning negatives, I use the Epson V750 Flatbed.” One thing’s for sure, Chung’s camera has definitely been through a lot and she admits with humour that her loyal Canon is “slowly dying”. She says: “The door to the battery pack is being held shut with duct tape and the back panel too, since the little clasp is broken, but I will shoot with that camera until it falls apart in my hands. And then I will go get the exact same model again.”
Just like her camera, Chung has been through the wringer on this project. She explains, “I wanted to work on a long term project. So in the beginning, I gave myself a full year to shoot as many people as possible” and in her own words “…it hasn’t been easy.” The biggest challenge she faced was scheduling the actual shoots: “I also work a full time Monday — Friday job as a designer, so that usually means I can only do a full 24 hours over the weekends. And everyone always has so much going on.”
The locations and situations Chung captures in Realest are honest and without gloss. Standing backstage in the warm hazy light of a strip club with entertainer Ellie Sweetz; watching former Outkast producer Mr. DJ writing on the windshield of a car he’s re-selling; or being a fly on the wall in a small living room while someone quietly works on their material, it’s far away from the images of millionaire rap gods usually marketed over social media. Chung strongly agrees saying: “There’s a stereotypical type of content associated with hip-hop and I’d like to be known as a source of unfiltered truth. The anti-social media if you will.”
What kind of truths would she like to share? “Overall I’m trying to show a wider perspective on hip-hop” says Chung, “It’s not just about artists. There’s an army behind musicians who help bring albums to life and I think it would be really cool to show, younger kids especially, the other options they have if they’re really passionate about working in the industry.”
In July, Chung will be releasing the first volume of a quarterly photo journal titled 524, named so because each volume features five people in hip-hop Chung has spent 24 hours with. She intends to launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise US$10,000 towards the printing costs and logistics for it. “I’m working with a local NY printer called Bestype who has been kind enough to partially sponsor me,” she says. Chung states that quality is paramount for this project: “I’m a designer by trade, so I went all out on letter pressing my covers with pantone ink and indigo printing, and picking a paper for the insides that’s beautiful but very limiting because very few printers can actually print on it.” Chung then plans to move onto production of volume two as soon as possible.
The Realest project reflects on an incredibly simple but undeniable fact. When we let others into the little, seemingly ordinary moments of our lives, that glimpse will change our existing preconceptions. No moment exemplifies this more than when Chung affectionately remembers how the people who’d previously been daunted by the prospect of spending 24 hours in her company changed their point of view; “Afterwards, a lot people were like, ‘Aw man, it’s over already? Stay for 48!’ And to me that’s been a huge honour.”
This article was first published on DigitalRev. You can follow us on Facebook or Twitter for more photography stories.
