Ellen’s Adoptee Identity Portrait

Ellen is a transracial, transcultural adoptee born in Korea and raised Minnesota. Before she took these images she had never worn a traditional Korean Hanbok. In her portraits she can be seen depicting the duality for many transcultural adoptees - holding both her identity as a Korean-American woman, fully immersed in the culture of the midwest and still navigating and learning the value of integrating these two aspects of her origin story.

Here are her words about her identity portrait experience: “So much of what we shared together was about our experience as adoptees - how we think, how we feel, how we move in the world, what makes us feel seen and loved. I knew this session was an opportunity to bring those parts of me into a collaborative celebration with Asha Studio. I felt connected to myself, to nature, and to the joys of creating something beautiful with Andrea. Words aren’t enough to express my gratitude for this experience.”