We Belong Everywhere with Reggie Black

During her two month adventure throughout Southeast Asia and Europe, I had the privilege to spend time with Yukako Atsuchi. Photographer, artist, and traveler Yukako is originally from Miyazaki, the capital city of Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Miyazaki is approximately a two hour flight from Tokyo. Yukako calls Miyazaki “the countryside” of Japan, however she’s no stranger to exploring other cultures and countries. She allows wander to lead her spirit throughout her journey and her photography captures the essence of her curiosity. Attending college in Los Angeles, and then moving to Tokyo, Yukako embodies the core element of what “getting lost to find yourself” truly means. She’s not afraid to abandoned the mundane in order to find new dimensions of fulfillment. Ironically enough, Yukako, and I briefly met almost four years in Portland as we were both traveling and staying in the same hostel. During her time in Bangkok, Yukako asked if she could capture some shots of me in my home, and immediately said “yes” under one condition, if she allowed me to record our conversation during the shoot. She agreed and this episode is a result of that creative exchange. Yukako opens up about her Japanese heritage, perception, the significance of film photography in her life, human emotions that creates conflict in her work, pushing herself to discover new layers of who she wants to become, and how satisfying others forced her to rethink the direction she was headed towards. The conversation gets heavy, we share thoughts around loneliness, being able to identify when negative thoughts are near, and being able to redirection your energy. There’s a lot of great dialogue in this episode but one of my favorite quotes from the conversation is when Yukako says “fear only comes from when you care about what people think.” Follow Yukako via her website [https://www.yukakoatsuchi.com] or on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/yukakoatsuchi/].

As of today most people overlook the Udom Suk neighborhood in Bangkok in terms of coffee, culture, and community. Traditionally it takes major development to improve the cultural climate of specific areas. However, we are living in an era where traditions are broken regularly. In this particular case, tradition is broken on behalf of progression and innovation. Gary Ford II [https://www.facebook.com/gjford2] joins Reggie Black to share a portion of his masterplan and how he intends to be in the forefront of reshaping Udom Suk. Alongside his wife, Michelle Ford, Gary is building a mixed use space, La Mesa Coffee Co [https://www.facebook.com/LaMesaCoffee/]. that will combine several components that he is particularly interest in bringing to the community. He is introducing his vision through coffee, but there are so many layers to the overall experience. The nucleus of his work is social impact, which he believes is very important to building his venture. Gary has done work as a Christian Missionary. He has devoted his time serving community organizations and refugee initiatives. As a global citizen that has lived in several different countries, during this conversation Gary takes us on an amazing journey outlining his childhood, and why he has decided to call Bangkok his home. The human experience will connect the dots for us if we are open to receiving the signs, and follow them. Essentially, Gary is an example of what the impossible can present once you decide to forge forward on a decision and create something bigger than yourself. His story is also a classic example of trusting the process and allowing resilience to guide your work. Gary is excited about this being the first project that he builds from the ground up and in time wants to share his vision with several places around the world. Follow Gary’s journey via social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) at @gjford2. You can also follow the journey of La Mesa Coffee Co. via social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) at @LaMesaCoffee.

As of today most people overlook the Udom Suk neighborhood in Bangkok in terms of coffee, culture, and community. Traditionally it takes major development to improve the cultural climate of specific areas. However, we are living in an era where traditions are broken regularly. In this particular case, tradition is broken on behalf of progression and innovation. Gary Ford II [https://www.facebook.com/gjford2] joins Reggie Black to share a portion of his masterplan and how he intends to be in the forefront of reshaping Udom Suk. Alongside his wife, Michelle Ford, Gary is building a mixed use space, La Mesa Coffee Co [https://www.facebook.com/LaMesaCoffee/]. that will combine several components that he is particularly interest in bringing to the community. He is introducing his vision through coffee, but there are so many layers to the overall experience. The nucleus of his work is social impact, which he believes is very important to building his venture. Gary has done work as a Christian Missionary. He has devoted his time serving community organizations and refugee initiatives. As a global citizen that has lived in several different countries, during this conversation Gary takes us on an amazing journey outlining his childhood, and why he has decided to call Bangkok his home. The human experience will connect the dots for us if we are open to receiving the signs, and follow them. Essentially, Gary is an example of what the impossible can present once you decide to forge forward on a decision and create something bigger than yourself. His story is also a classic example of trusting the process and allowing resilience to guide your work. Gary is excited about this being the first project that he builds from the ground up and in time wants to share his vision with several places around the world. Follow Gary’s journey via social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) at @gjford2. You can also follow the journey of La Mesa Coffee Co. via social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) at @LaMesaCoffee.

Outside of Casa Lapin on the busy street of Sukhumvit 26, Khem Chen [https://www.facebook.com/khem.chen]joins Reggie Black to share her stories about travel, living in another country, the contrasts between Singapore and Bangkok, and finding her voice as a photographer. Khem explores introspective topics about interracial issues amongst Southeast Asia by addressing the notions that exist throughout Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, and Thai cultures particularly referencing how they all interact with each other. Khem articulates the importance of all ethnicities respecting each others social structure, what “darker skin” means in Asians cultures, and what can be done to express more empathy. Khem also tells a beautiful story about how work related travels to dangerous and remote locations crafted her voice as a photographer. She also credits her travels to Switzerland, the power of the internet, and Flipboard as instrumental tools that helped her evolve as a photographer. Khem continues to explain her artist development process by sharing the importance of exploring new cities that she’s never been to before in order to capture new environments. With every capture, Khem is trying to learn something from the visual exchange in that particular moment as well as collect that memory to then go learn more about that experience. Her upcoming projects will explore gender bias and individuality. There are tons of powerful perspectives in this conversation but this quote from Khem in particular really challenges the human condition and draws a connection with her art: “For me, it’s not just a photo, I would like people to see, start thinking and start recognizing something in our society. I’m interested in ignorance. How can people see things everyday and not notice that they are there and just pass by?”

We hear a lot of progressive stories from people who stop drinking, and find comfort in their new path towards sobriety. Often times, the weird space that’s created from the moment you decide to stop consuming alcohol and vow to build a new life for yourself is omitted. The time it takes to get adjusted into a new life of sobriety can get messy, ugly, socially awkward, and lonely. Your daily life changes, social circles shift, and the things that you participated in at one point in your life eventually become hazardous to your well-being. Janneke Highstreets joins Reggie Black at Ink & Lion Cafe in Bangkok to open up about her journey and the emotional turbulence she’s experiencing on the path to sobriety. Janneke is an artist, and founder of jn/nk, a participatory experience, community art, and human interactive art collective. Originally from The Netherlands, and currently living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Janneke takes us on this beautiful, raw, insecure, and vulnerable narrative that articulates the layers of complexity that lives inside of her mind and heart. Janneke admits the road to sobriety has been challenging and depressing, however as she states  with confidence in our conversation that “this is is a transition time, it’s accepting this new person.”