a modern chinese portrait 

model + stylist: maiqi qin

creative directed and shot by maia feruzi

Wednesday October 5th 2022 9:00am

📍Brighton, MA

shot on: canon eos rebel t3i

concept

I reached out to Maiqi online after following in love with her fashion sense and commitment to working in, as well as creating, fun and safe asian spaces. I wanted to do a modern take on a traditional chinese portrait. In recent years the term “asian bbg” has become popular on social media and refers to young asian american woman that dress sexier, edgier, are usually tattooed, and wear a certain makeup look usually consisting of strong eyeliner. It is a small rebellion to the conservative view of asian culture that asian woman should be very modest and meek. I wanted to tap into that theme but also retain elements of traditional chinese culture in the props we used. I supplied the tea set and Maiqi was able to borrow a Mahjong set from her school.

The pants she is wearing is from an asian owned brand called @dawangnewyork that specializes in making modernized asian clothing which is exactly the vibe we were going for. We shot in the morning to use the lovely cool and soft morning light I get there(also a small crack at the stereotype that woman only belong in the kitchen). When posing Maiqi I wanted her to be sensual and sexy, confident and strong, comfortable in her femininity while also taking pride in her heritage that sometimes limits this kind of self expression.