Mel Taing Photography

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Mel Taing Photography

MEL TAING is a Boston-based portrait photographer and experimental filmmaker. MEL TAING is a Boston-based photographer & experimental filmmaker.

Her portraiture is focused on creating color spaces that are filmic, romantic and slightly surreal. She received her BFA in Film/Video at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design in 2016 and graduated with Departmental Honors. Mel’s personal aesthetic is rooted in creating color spaces that are filmic, romantic and slightly surreal.

10/19/2025

🚨EXHIBITION ALERT! 🚨 I’m so honored to be a part of my second exhibition this year! It closes this Saturday, 10/25. Be sure to make the closing reception! 
Idioms of Distress: Being Khmer Elsewhere brings together a new generation of post–Khmer Rouge Khmer artists. In a culture shaped by survival and diaspora, this show insists on visibility—honoring our elders while making space for those who have never seen themselves reflected on a gallery wall. We create while holding close the legacies our ancestors endured so much for.  
Venue: AS220 Aborn Gallery, Providence, RI

Dates: October 4–25, 2025

Gallery Hours: Thu–Fri 1–6 PM, Sat 12–5 PM

Closing Night: Saturday, October 25 — performance by (Chummeng Soun) + Artist Q&A

Artists: Vuthy Lay, Savonnara Sok, Samnang Ken Riebe, Princess Moon, Oussa Mira Bun, Mel Taing, Marius Keo Marjolin, Linda Sok, Leiyana Simone Pereira, Kannetha Brown, Jamie Keth, Daniella Thach, Dana Heng, Chummeng Soun, Alex Tum, Adrianna Touch. curated by Savonnara Sok and honorable mentions Joe Bun Keo

09/10/2025

Happy Birthday, my love. 🌻✨  These are photos we took of each other a few weeks ago after the shed in our backyard was demolished to build a new one. It felt right to mark this moment in time, to kick the dust around the foundation of the past and wonder at what will come next. The sun was quickly setting and the August golden light perfectly matched the recently bloomed sunchoke plants my best friend Karen planted in our yard 3 years ago.  This year’s revolution around the sun has brought us both great grief and great joy. Earlier this year, Colin’s beautiful mom Carol passed away unexpectedly in the same exact window of time we found out we were pregnant. Every holiday, every new achievement or event is now marked by both the passing and arrival of our most loved people. For this birthday, I want to cherish the being that was born today and also honor the being that birthed you.   Dear Colin, to cherish you today is to also honor your mom and all that she nourished within you: a generous spirit, a warm and thoughtful heart, and a deep devotion to your loved ones. As we continue to evolve as best friends, lovers, and parents, I am over the moon to spend life by your side. I love you and for this birthday, I deeply wish for you to see yourself as your wonderful mom always saw you.   Please send Colin your extra love today. ✨

07/22/2025

Join exhibiting artist Mel Taing [ .ltaing ] and teaching artist Kelly Tan [ ] on Saturday, 7/26 from 2pm-4pm for an afternoon of arts activation inspired by “Where We Meet: Imagining Gardens and Futures.” Get your own garden-inspired portrait taken with friends and family, share your hopes, dreams, and wishes for the future of Chinatown, and learn about how green space advocacy plays a role in the thriving and vitality of the neighborhood.

RSVP at paoartscenter.org or go to . Please note that registering for this event does not guarantee a portrait session with Mel. We will have an on-site sign-up form, first come, first served. Each session will be 5 minutes.

“Where We Meet: Imagining Gardens and Futures” is on view July 18 - October 10, 2025. Curated by Gabrielle Niu, PhD.

This public program is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ Public Art for Spatial Justice program, with funding from the Barr Foundation [ ] and the Fund for the Arts at NEFA [ ] !

12/02/2024

On my 30th birthday this spring, I went to the ocean with my love, Colin, and my best friend, Sam. I collected all of these sea shells and placed them in a beautiful woven pouch that Sam gifted me. The shells sat in my studio for weeks until I suddenly wanted to make self-portraits with them.
🐚 ✨
I kept thinking about how shells are what’s left after the creature within has died. The soft, squishy self fades away and then this hard yet delicate artifact is left behind. I made this work after starting EMDR therapy. The “flooding” of emotion and pain I experienced after beginning left me completely raw, the shell ripped off leaving the squishy self exposed. I move differently, I don’t say yes to everything as often, and I go quiet instead of loud when things get hard. Throughout a lifetime, many soft squishy selves die off, leaving nothing but their hard shells until new selves begin growing. I wonder, what new beginning is growing now?

08/24/2022

✨ CASTING CALL FOR ALL MY AZN KWEENS ✨
I’m looking for a Southeast Asian Femme to model for a young adult book cover by the talented, transcendent Vichet Chum called Kween. Kween is about a q***r Cambodian American 16 year old who is navigating first love, a spoken word competition, and her sister’s upcoming wedding, all in the wake of her father’s recent deportation.
🐉
If you are interested or know someone who might thrive in this opportunity, please DM or email me at [email protected]. Send a portrait, name/pronouns, availability for September.
🐉
QUESTIONS?
🤑 Yes, this is a PAID opportunity!
🏙 LOCATION - The shoot will happen at my studio in Boston, so being able to find transportation to and from Boston will be appreciated and compensated!
🗓 DATE/TIME - Mid-September, date flexible with weekday availability appreciated!
🐉
ID: A portrait of my lovely friend !! She stands in front of a lavender backdrop, wearing a grey long-sleeve sweater, a chartreuse skirt, and a gold chain with a jade charms. She has dark green nails painted and both hands are resting on her collarbone as she smiles sweetly and looks off camera with sky blue round glasses.

05/25/2022

happy birthday to the magnetic, electric, radiant, earth angel
✨💜✨ from the moment we connected over zoom during the pandemic and eventually stepping into shared space with you and Marian and the ACI Fam, I have basked in the glow of your intentional, full-hearted community care. you’ve connected me to a world of wonder with fellow QTDBIPOC+ artists and invited me to create and be in my fullness. You are a shining example of what it looks like to rise into our full selves, to embrace ALL that we are and to let it FLY! Whether it was furiously typing an academic article together or sweating our booties off playing taiko, you’ve encouraged me to trust the current of the wind. To dance with the unpredictable, to float with the pleasure of community, to sing with joy and grief, to glide through turbulence, and to gleam with inner knowing.
✨💜✨
Thank you for embodying the fresh breeze that doesn’t need a destination to keep its cool. Happy Gemini Season to you!

05/10/2022

Reuniting with my beautiful ICA teaching family for a portrait session at the Seaport Studios a few weeks ago. 🥹🤧✨

I loved being a part of this team through the winter and getting to know these talented badasses. Please follow all of these humans and support their work!!

04/08/2022

Today is my birthday! I’m 28 years old now! I’ve been photographing my ass off the past month and I’m still in awe that folx want to work with me. I’m working on accepting this reality with confidence. I was talking with a beloved Aries friend this past week and we talked about “stepping into our power.” While Marian had reservations about the word ‘power’ and its many implications, we ended circling around two other words instead - ‘purpose’ and ‘passion.’ After several years of feeling undervalued and unseen at various roles in my career, this past year marks the first time where I’ve felt truly loved, held and seen in my fullness in my career. I fell in love with so many people this past year, I’m almost breathless thinking about how much light, joy, and strength I’ve found in community. You know who you are.
✨🥳✨ I honestly don’t believe that I have truly stepped into my own power yet, I think I’m finally allowing myself to witness and explore all of its edges with a lil less fear. Crashing through boundaries, painstakingly building new ones, stretching myself too thin, holding when I could be releasing or vice versa — I’ve had to make many decisions this past year to get me a little bit closer to purposeful passion, or passionate purpose. It almost doesn’t matter what that looks like because I know now what it should *feel* like. I’d love to know: WHAT DOES STEPPING INTO YOUR POWER FEEL LIKE TO YOU? [fo real, let me know in the comments].
✨🥳✨

02/10/2022

Thinking about this gem of an artist today 🦄✨ I got to collaborate with .roseman last year after meeting her through a wonderful workshop centered on Collective Liberation for BIPOC artists. Jess is an incredible dancer and choreographer based in Boston. The mood board we created for this shoot was filled with colorful crystals, bright blooms and electric colors. I think we nailed it. Please go and support Jess by checking out her profile and website, she’s doing AMAZING things this season, including a virtual event with the Cambridge Public Library tonight!

02/08/2022

happy birthday to my beloved .aimee ✨ 🕊 through all of our panicked calls to each other asking for guidance, through all the trips back and forth between Brooklyn and Boston, through all the moments from high school French class to being there the night I met my husband ~ I am grateful for all of it. You are a shining beacon of tenderness and care. Thank you for being a part of my life, I’m honored to be in yours! Also thank you for always being a willing muse and collaborator. You’re such a ham for the camera and we love it. 🥰

01/05/2022

Aimee was one of my first muses and is my dearest friend who has known me the longest. Lately, I’ve been bursting into tears from missing my friends so much. While I have many beautiful, beloved homies here in Boston, I have a number of soul siblings who now live far away from me. And I miss the s**t out of them.
🕊✨
It was so special to end 2021 by spending some much needed time in my studio, doing what I love most. This is how my whole creative portrait practice started - with Aimee coming over and us running around taking random photos. I’ve realized that by always being behind the camera, I don’t have a lot of photos of what I was like in the moment. So here we are — loving, tender and full of joy. After the shoot, we talked and talked and talked, watching the light fade in my studio until we parted. It’s moments like these I always want to treasure.
🕊✨
Image description: Mel, an Asian American woman with black hair and middle parted side bangs wearing an oversized button up shirt seated the left of Sarah, a white woman with long, wavy red hair. She wears a blue collared dress with a floral print. They hold a giant wreath of fake white flowers in front of them, forming a frame around their faces. As the photos progress, they close their eyes and rest on each other and then burst out laughing.

11/30/2021

One of my favorite subjects to photograph are my fellow artists. We are MAGICAL beings, you know? Creating new worlds, transforming visual languages into mirrors that reflect our times, and weaving community through connection and healing. WHAT CAN’T WE DO?
🎨🖌
That being said, being an artist or designer is HARD. There are many systems that work against us - especially artists and designers of color, and ESPECIALLY young, emerging artists and designers of color.
🎨🖌
All of these beautiful souls I’ve taken portraits of are MassArt alumni. It has always been a part of my joy and purpose to connect to my fellow MassArt alum and meaningfully find ways to support us. Now, it’s my time to give back to MassArt BIPOC students. I’ve always wanted to help current MassArt students, but it was hard to find a way that the students really wanted and asked for.
🎨🖌
Please consider donating to the MassArt BIPOC Fund, a student led initiative to provide funds for BIPOC students’ thesis projects!! They asked, and now it’s time to show up. Administered by my fav Justice, Equity and Inclusion Office , these funds go directly into students hands for their work and wellbeing. I know that times are not easy for all of us, but even $5 could go a long way towards an extra snack or coffee during late night studio hours, or a few extra dollars to get the materials needed to make their work shine.
🎨🖌
Last year, we raised over $10,000. Let’s go BIG and show students of color that we care about the magic they inherently hold and bring to the world! ~ LINK IN BIO ~

Address

95 Empire St
Providence, RI

Website

http://www.meltaing.com/

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