Roosters

Final year project @ BA Journalism

Asians on the outside, Europeans on the inside. For the so-called „banana children“, the second-generation Vietnamese, the Czech Republic might be their native country, but the majority of society still views them as foreigners. What is it like to grow up between two completely different cultures and not belong to either? How is such a young identity formed when it is also queer?

Project „My dad once told me about roosters. They’re beautiful and colourful… and hens are brown“ was created as a final year project.

The book can be also accessed via Issuu – here.

Photobook titled „My dad once told me about roosters. They’re beautiful and colourful… and hens are brown“ is a portrait of Quang, a young queer Czech-Vietnamese man. The resulting body of work is a compilation of different visual strategies – it includes original digital colour and black and white analogue photographs. There are also scanned analogue colour photographs from disposable cameras distributed by the author. Quang and his boyfriend Nikolas then intervened in the printed reproductions with written text. The book also makes use of archival photographs and other materials. Last but not least, the author had Quang re-intervene in the final form of the photobook with his text, thus responding to the way the author visualized Quang’s story. The photobook is the result of an ongoing collaboration resulting in a (hopefully) higher level of authenticity.

Echoes (awards, mentions,..):

The book has been awarded the Josef Hlávka Prize which is intended for talented students up to the age of 33 of bachelor´s, master´s or doctoral study who have shown special ability and intellectual creativity in their branch.

It has also been shortlisted for the Best Documentary Book of 2022 by Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival.

Czech Television’s Newsroom ČT24 aired a story about the book and the Josef Hlávka Prize the work had won.

The news server of the Czech Radio (www.irozhlas.cz) published an article from the BA works exhibition at which the project was presented.