Hi, this is Eibati and X and welcome to the Candid Frame.

The personal project is the kind of thing that a photographer needs to do in order to challenge themselves, to move beyond just the singular image.

I think it's very easy to go out there and just get caught up on trying to make that one

shot that looks really, really good, that evokes a reaction in the viewer.

But it's another thing to go out and to create a body of work that actually says something

about our world, our community,

or even ourselves.

Today's guest, Hatman Lee, is a photographer who turned the camera on herself, her family,

and her world in a very unique way.

And by photographing her parents' liquor store in the Washington, D.C. area, she revealed

a world that, while familiar, is completely foreign in a very intimate way.

And I was impressed by the photographs when I first saw them because in some ways I had been

in places like this, but never really connected to the people behind the counter.

And by her photographing not only her own family, but the people who frequent the store,

she created an amazing document of life in a little corner of our world.

And I hope you really enjoy the conversation, but particularly her images.

And I hope that it inspires you to possibly explore your own world.

We started the conversation by simply talking about her family and their beginnings.

I think that, like, since my parents had a mom and pop shop, like, growing up, they were always working.

And I think that, I think i was a little resentful because i always had to work too like on the weekends or after school like all the

other kids can go to ballet classes or soccer classes or you know it's just like i i knew that i have to go

to the store i I have to work.

...