MY RARE GEMGayane Karapetian

Leanna WolfeAnthropology 102

Valley Community College

•My best friend Kevin is extremely unique. He is gay, Thai, and Buddhist. It is very apparent, especially in this picture that Kevin is extremely handsome. He is also a model. He is featured on many American Apparel ads. American Apparel is a popular and trendy store. He is an artist and photographer, and once in a while he likes to be on the other side of the camera. He is very cool and hip. He is one of the kindest people in my life mainly reflecting off his Buddhist religion.

•Just like this photograph that I took of Kevin he is a reflection of his Buddhist religion. He is always there to help me one hundred percent of the time. He is constantly informing me about the idea of different religions, and the beauty and magic of every single religion. This is why I have tremendous respect for him and all other Buddhists. He is a peaceful human being, that finds beauty in everything.

•This is Kevin captured in the act of photography. His artistic muse is fashion. Here he is seen photographic a 3D printed Louis Vuitton mannequin. Here he expressed to me how free he felt in the exhibition. He felt as if he was in his own bubble and his own world. He felt truly happy. “Fashion is therapeutic”, as Kevin would say. He comes from a long line of designers, so he feels at home in the fashion world.

•Kevin’s parents have always told him to smile through anything, no matter what. As a child Kevin had to endure severe bullying by other kids because he had different religious beliefs and he was openly gay, even as a child. He is an extremely positive person, because he comes from a family that encourages happiness and love. He is happy about love and he is ecstatic to be walking on planet earth.

•Here I photographed Kevin at the Hollywood Farmers’ Market. Again we see that huge beautiful smile, and his lovely sense of style. I frequently go shopping with Kevin’s family because they are fantastic company. His family is very influenced by a healthy lifestyle. Kevin considers himself a vegan. His mother owns several Thai restaurants on Melrose, in the Hollywood Hills, etc. His healthy lifestyle has influenced me, and now I am also a vegan.

•Here I photographed Kevin while he was checking his social media websites, and listening to music. One website he keeps up with constantly is Style.com. He feels that if he does not keep up social media life he would be missing out on a lot of things. He is an avid listener to music because he grew up in a musical household.

•Kevin is a nature lover, and is very athletic coming from a track team. He asked me to take this picture of him because he thought the scenery was beautiful. At this moment he told me that he wished he had a sketch pad and pencil to draw the background. Pictured are various types of cactus’s, his favorite plant.

•Kevin is considered to be an old soul. Here he is photographed at our high school homecoming, we were each other’s dates. I used a specific old film camera because it was a classic movie night feel that he gave me. We both made a statement that night. We won homecoming king and queen, and Kevin became the first gay male that ever won homecoming king.

•I had to photograph Kevin’s wardrobe and the way he was standing because it was so unique. I realized that although Kevin and I come from different cultural backgrounds, we have been able to maintain the strongest friendship bond. He is my brother, even though we are not blood related.

•This is a picture of an art book vending machine. Kevin considered this vending very symbolic for his life. He saw himself inside this vending machine. There are several art books inside and art books are magical things, but he saw it as if they were caged inside the machine. Just like him and artistic soul forced to keep to himself because of his sexual orientation.