Gallery

This is my most treasured photograph. And largely how I remember my dad. Wavy, lush hair parted to one side. Kind eyes, calm, and grounded. What you wouldn't know by looking at this photo is that he was a trained tenor and loved playing jokes on us. He worked from home as an editor for a newspaper based out of Seattle and used to send faxes so often that the sound of the fax machine drove me crazy. In the later years, he and my mom slaved away at a business to provide for our family. I had him for 14 years. I miss him a painful amount. But even in the hugeness of our loss, I came to know God as Father in a way I never could have imagined.

 My dad's name was Il Jong Jeong. I love my last name just because it was his, too. He was a judo athlete, and he often won, which is perhaps why his arm is raised in this photograph. I can imagine him sparring in the sand with his friends. He was a gentle giant. Strong and tender, always reaching out to others with his humor and steady hands. He passed down his faith in Jesus to us along with his passion for music and art. I picked up his Canon SLR shortly after he passed away and began studying photography as a way of keeping his memory close. And just like dad, I prefer to use Tamrac camera bags. 

One of our early family photos at our first home in Southeast Portland. We made the move to Oregon in 1987 after my dad was hired by a local Korean church as the choir conductor. I loved this house. I spent many a night lying on the beige sofa being serenaded to sleep by my mom on the piano. The only piece I ever wanted to hear was 'Claire de Lune' by Debussy, which is still my favorite classical piece. Our neighbors had a Dalmatian named Duchess that we loved. I suppose that's when my love affair with dogs began. When we moved in 1994, my sisters and I cried for days.

My family loves dogs - as you can tell by our hands firmly planted on Duchess above. Before Portland became cool and we somehow miraculously transformed into coffee and micro-brew sipping hipsters, this is what we did to shoot the breeze. Real life. We sat on the grass, played in the sun and shade, rode our bicycles through the park, and hung out without phones or the internet. There was plenty to get ourselves into trouble with without those things. And we never took pictures of our food.

We just ate it.