Announcing the 2014 – 2015 Fellowship Recipient Ka-Man Tse

New York, NY (May 31, 2014) –The Robert Giard Foundation, in partnership with The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) of the City University of New York, announced the 2014-2015 Robert Giard Fellowship recipient, photographer Ka-Man Tse, at its annual benefit on May 21, 2014. The Guest of Honor at the benefit, held in support of the fellowship, was Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Cunningham, who spoke eloquently about the importance of providing emerging artists moral and financial support.

Ms. Tse receives the Robert Giard Fellowship grant of $7,500 for her project: Portraits and Narratives of LGBTQ Asians and Asian-Americans in the U.S. and Hong Kong. The funds will allow her to travel to her native Hong Kong to continue her photographic project there.

Ms. Tse described this project as part of her life-long investigation of community and human agency. Collaborating with her subjects in public spaces, she captures moments observed and imagined, choreographed and improvised, personal and public. She said, “Visibility, representation and community are driving forces in my artwork. Mixing queer narratives, personal memories and obsessions, storytelling and portraiture, I recast these elements in order to recast the world. It is important that the narratives unfold in public spaces, for visibility—as well as for that tension of occupying the landscape and sharing these stories with a world and a public.”

Above image: 2014-2015 Fellowship recipient Ka-Man Tse (far right) at the Fellowship Benefit on May 21st with (left to right) guest of honor and speaker Michael Cunningham, Laura Teodosio, film producer and collaborator representing 2012-2013 recipient Cary Cronenwett, and Yoruba Richen, 2011-2012 recipient.

To see Ka-Man Tse’s work visit her webpage here: www.tsewhat.com