Shena Hoffman

Jason

 As I studied my fiancée, Jason, closely I found myself asking, how well do I really know him? Although we have been together for over four years and are planning to get married, I had to ponder this question. With this project I hoped to come to a fuller understanding of his journey and the road that he has taken in order to become the person he is today.  Jason was adopted from the Philippines when he was six-months-old. He came to America with his adoptive family when he was two and has been raised in America his entire life. I still wondered what effect his heritage has on him, if any at all. I wanted him to search deep within himself and to think about his inner feelings on his heritage and his background.

 This project is as much of a search of him as it is of myself. I have come to the realization that my personal search throughout this work is the difference of our skin. I feel that in my own life this fact must be considered. By doing this work I do not feel as though I am searching for an acceptance of this fact for myself, but by others. In a country where race is still an important issue, and coming from an area of the country where racism is still very prominent, I feel as though my work is an attempt to show people that race really does not matter. By searching Jason so thoroughly, I feel that others can see the color of skin is our only difference. Each of us has a past that has shaped us, and hopes for a future that are molding us into what we want to become. That is what is important when we take off our outward garments, the guarded attitudes, look past the different colors of skin and realize we are all the same.