Local photography instructor presents ‘Circles of Identity’

While spending a majority of his youth in Little Rock, Ark., Vietnamese-American Minh Carrico fell in love with, and was intrigued by, the wonderful world of photography.

“I was 8 or 9 years old and always had a camera in my hand,” Carrico recalled of his childhood. “I would mainly (steal) my mother’s camera when I was younger.”

That passion is now on display on the Mt. Hood campus in Gresham.

The 46-year-old Carrico has 20, 11-by-17-inch photographs displayed in the Fireplace Gallery, which is open to all inside the Student Union through May 29. The exhibit, “Circles of Identity,” is open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday.

Carrico, born and raised in the states, struggled at times with his Vietnamese heritage.

In 2002, he made the first of three trips to Sa Dec, Vietnam, and other cities throughout the country. He was accompanied by his mother, whose maiden name is Nguyen.

The mother-son duo would later head back to Vietnam in 2004 and 2008. All three visits were during the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, also known as Tet.

“My mom was my cultural contact for everything and that’s the origins of where all my mother’s relatives are basically from,” said Carrico, who is an art instructor at Edmonds Community College just north of Seattle.

He added, “It really helped bring my mother and I closer. We didn’t always see eye-to-eye (normally) and I was able to come up with a great project, which turned out to be the best (idea) at the time.” So, he decided to document his trip and to create moments and memories through the lens of his camera.

While visiting Vietnam, Carrico snapped over 4,000 photos, which he had to narrow down to 35-40 photos for public display, he said.

Carrico learned a lot about his “identity” and his art craft during his Vietnam trips.

“It was a huge part of trying to figure out who I am since that’s my (heritage),” he said. “I’m too western to be Asian and I’m too Asian to be western. I’m kind of stuck in this gray area,” he said he learned through his experiences traveling back and fourth between Vietnam and the U.S.

The project took eight years to finalize and to be displayed.

Carrico said he’s most proud of his “Saigon, USA” photo, among those being displayed at MHCC.

“There are a number of reasons it’s my favorite piece,” he said. “When the war ended in 1975 all the Vietnamese people wanted to move on, and Americans have had a hard time letting it go for some reason. In many ways, a number of the Vietnamese people want to come to the states.”

“The ‘Saigon, USA’ is a Vietnamese bus driver wearing a USA hat with a bus full of Vietnamese soldiers with a Saigon marquee on the side of the bus,” Carrico said with some intensity in his voice. He said he couldn’t have timed it better, given the subject matter.

Carrico said he enjoyed his experience in Vietnam, and being able to capture the culture and meet his distant relatives.

“I had a connection with all the strangers that I met randomly along the way,” he said. “It’s one big family over there.”

He added, “In many ways I am a tourist in Vietnam. But I didn’t want my photos to look like a tourist. And I am always searching for unique photos.”

Prior to moving to the Seattle area, Carrico and his wife lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., before they came to the conclusion that he and his wife wanted to raise a family of their own outside of the Big Apple. “My partner and I didn’t want to raise kids there,” said Carrico, whose son is now 4.

He has been in the Seattle area the last nine years, including the last eight years working at Edmonds CC.

Prior to his current job, he worked for a company called OnRequest Images in Seattle, where he served as the senior producer for a one-year stint. All told, he has spent 16-plus years in advertising, including owning his own business. “I’ve always been in artist,” Carrico said. “I used advertising to make money for my art.” He quickly added, “Then I wanted to do (art) for myself.”

Carrico started to find himself and his worth, while earning his bachelor’s degree in photo communications from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, during the early 1990s. “I didn’t really grow up until Texas when I became self-efficient,” he said.

What makes the art form of photography so unique and special, is “telling visual stories with few words,” according to Carrico.

“Being an artist is a challenging and a competitive field. It never gets easy for a photographer. Everyone has a different styles.”

Advocate Staff