i was hired to shoot a series of press photos of female emcee rocky rivera aka eyeasage during her recent trip to honolulu.  it was a unique opportunity to shoot a real rarity in the hip hop world…a female emcee, and not just any female emcee but a politically-conscious, asian american female emcee.

i packed up a set of strobes and set out to shoot on a windy, rainy day in honolulu.  the key for this shoot was that the client didn’t want a set of photos with a sense of “place.”  in other words, rocky plans to use these images to promote herself on the mainland US and a distinctly “hawaii” look isn’t what she needed.  i used a buffed wall and parts of chinatown to get an urban look that is ambiguous enough to be relevant everywhere.

it was a privilege, and my lucky streak of shooting really interesting, amazing performers continues.

-a

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