This spring, the Ronald K. and Kati C. Machtley Interfaith Center at Bryant University hosted a photoshoot highlighting the depth of Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) culture and community.
The project, overseen by award-winning photographer Kannetha Brown, a first-generation American of Cambodian and Portuguese descent, was organized by Bryant’s AAPI staff and faculty affinity group.
Brown directed her subjects’ poses and positioning while encouraging them to authentically embody their personal journeys and cultural heritage.
Participants represented a variety of backgrounds — Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Laotian, Malaysian, and Vietnamese, among others — and many chose traditional dress for the photos.
Kaoru Paganelli, associate director of the office of international students and scholars, who herself is of Japanese heritage and dressed in a pink kimono for the shoot, told Bryant News, “People usually group us all together as just ‘Asian’ or just ‘AAPI,’ but we represent so many different cultures within that group … we represent so many different stories. … Each of us brings something different to our Bryant community.”
The portraits capture moments connecting individuals to their cultural heritage and to each other, and will be displayed during Bryant’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in April 2025. They will also be featured at the university’s annual Day of Understanding in October.●
