‘Other side of me’ photo campaign launches at Princeton
No story should be deemed ‘too uninteresting’ or ‘not moving enough’ to be shared
Student Life Committee Chair Jenny Zhang and photographer Vincent Po have launched a new photo campaign, “The Other Side of Me.”
With this new platform, Zhang and Po hope to encourage students to share a part of their lives that their friends and classmates may not know about. Read on to learn more about the minds behind “The Other Side of Me,” as well as the campaign’s success so far.
Tell us a bit about yourselves.
Jenny and I (Vincent) are both members of the Class of 2018. I study Electrical Engineering, and in addition to photography I enjoy playing violin and being involved with entrepreneurship on campus. Jenny is majoring in Economics and enjoys painting, watching the NBA, and playing squash during her free time. We’re both incredibly excited for the first day of photos tomorrow!
The campaign looks excellent, where did the idea come from?
The Other Side of Me was born out of Jenny and myself noticing a trend in many other photo campaigns, namely that they tackled very specific stories and issues, such as mental health, perfectionism, or sexual abuse. These campaign are of course incredibly powerful and moving, and we have only wonderful things to say about them. We however wanted to create a campaign that would allow for anyone, not just those who have gone through major trials and struggles in their lives, to show “their other side.” If you take a look at the stories we have already received, you might notice that they would be difficult to fit into another campaign geared to tackle one specific issue. No story should be deemed “too uninteresting” or “not moving enough” to be shared, because the reality is that everyone has “another side,” comprising of thoughts and stories that aren’t as public. We wanted to create a natural platform where those important stories could be told too, and based on the first few photos we took and the stories we received, we think we’re on to something.
How has the response been?
Absolutely incredible! The page had over 150 likes within the first couple of hours, and that was when we had only posted one photo with no other marketing or advertising. I think that really shows the potential of how powerful this campaign could be, and how it will resonate with people of all backgrounds as we begin to collect more stories. We’ve also had a few people from other universities reach out to ask about the possibility of bringing the campaign to more campuses across the country, as well as a few media outlets (like The Tab!) taking an interest in the campaign. The best response though has been our personal friends, some of whom have gone through intense trials in their own lives, reaching out to us to say how moving the campaign has already been.
For anyone interested in the campaign, photos will be taken in Frist MPR A from 4PM – 6PM, 4/22 and Sunday 4/24.