Xing, the bold and beautiful and recently published photo book, challenges some of the persistent stereotypes surrounding Asian women. It's a herculean task for photographer Elizabeth Gabrielle Lee, but she’s not alone in this one.
The Singapore-born, London-raised artist invited fellow photographers to contribute their images to Xing. Featuring the works of Beijing-based artist Lin Zhi Peng, Tokyo-based Mayumi Hosokura, San Francisco-based Vivian Fu and London-based Ronan Mckenzie and others, Xing is a companion to Lee’s ongoing Instagram project: @xi_ng. Described as “a domain of possibilities shedding light on the trailblazing lives of East and Southeast Asian women,” the project is a collection of vintage - and at times over sexualized - images. They’re taken from commercials or movies, but the sexual stereotyping these women face exists to this day.
"Asian women are looked upon as objects that can be molded or claimed at the hands of her beholder,” Lee said in an interview. “With hardly any neutral ground that the Asian female can call her own, this is one of the most concerning things - defining what being an Asian female is in 2017. Not all of us are petite, slim, docile and submissive.”
With Xing, Lee creates a platform for challenging the stereotypes. In some photos, subjects are shown staring straight at the camera. In others they’re posing boldly, not as a man's object, but free to determine their identity and define their own sexuality.
Xing is available for purchase here.
All images c/o xi-ng.co.