{"id":6168,"date":"2017-05-03T18:32:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T18:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsincerity.us\/?p=1023"},"modified":"2023-05-20T07:15:43","modified_gmt":"2023-05-20T07:15:43","slug":"jean-melesaine-photographs-hidden-lives-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kilde.org\/new-sincerity\/jean-melesaine-photographs-hidden-lives-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographer Finds Muse While Spending 21st Birthday in Jail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spun from Bay Area yarn, Jean Melesaine calls this place her forever home\u2014she even has \u2018Bay Area\u2019 tattooed across her forearms. A Samoan-American and photographer by trade, she opens windows into lives many of us would never know.
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\nThrough her job at Silicon Valley De-Bug<\/a> \u2013 an organization that uses storytelling as a force for change \u2013 she co-edited a book on the stories of the working class in Silicon Valley. She also did a project on queer Samoan-Americans, called \u2018Navigating Queer Pacific Waves\u2019. Her newest plan? To document young SF Samoan-Americans in conversation with their immigrant elders.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: Jean Melesaine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n


\nMelesaine finds the silver lining in circumstance, knowing that no one is without a relatable experience \u2013 pairing well with the fact that her warmth gets people to spill their story. Like, when she found herself in jail on her 21st birthday. She spent the time drawing and talking with the other women in the jail, learning about their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an interview with KQED, she said, \u201cThe women would give me their kids\u2019 pictures and tell me their stories while they were sitting next to me drawing. Those women who I was locked up with, I have so much love for them. I hope everything\u2019s cool and they made it.\u201d
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\nHave a look at her portfolio<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spun from Bay Area yarn, Jean Melesaine calls this place her forever home\u2014she even has \u2018Bay Area\u2019 tattooed across her forearms. A Samoan-American and photographer by trade, she opens windows into lives many of us would never know. \u2800\u2800 Through her job at Silicon Valley De-Bug \u2013 an organization that uses storytelling as a force for change \u2013 she co-edited a\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[545,110,546,547,289,548],"class_list":["post-6168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-makers","category-sonder","tag-jean-melesaine","tag-photography","tag-samoan","tag-samoan-american","tag-silicon-valley","tag-silicon-valley-debug"],"yoast_head":"\nJean Melesaine: Photographer Finds Muse While Spending 21st Birthday<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Women open up about their lives on the outside. 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