jahchong

Over the years, folks suggested I should make my photography available to buy as prints, and I’ve always been a bit hesitant to move forward with that, not knowing how it would be received. As we embark on a new year, I finally decided to just go for it. So, launching my photography website here where you can order prints of all sizes and mediums and even print on various merch too. I ordered a bunch myself to test the products and am genuinely stoked on how it’s come out! Link in bio to go check it out. The photography I’ve produced over the years has primarily been a means for me to more deeply connect with the homeland I love so much, Hawaiʻi pae ʻĀina, the layered moʻokūʻauhau or genealogies and moʻolelo (stories) embedded in it, and a steadfast reverence to the magnificent spirit it carries. I hope there’s some connection, reverence or inspiration you find in these prints as well. In any case, I’m truly grateful for everyone’s continued support over the years for myself as a filmmaker and artist. My goal is to continue adding more photos to this website every month. In addition, this is my first time launching a shop website and plan to improve it as we go along, so I appreciate any and all feedback! Would love to know which prints resonate most with you, which ones you’re drawn to, or stories you wanna share attached to any of these. Mahalo piha!

3 months of our Lei’d back Leh 🥰 Sis has really completed our little ohana with her down to cruise attitude & eyes full of wander. She’s a lot more aware now, smiling & chatting it up whenever she has your attention. Leh is too big to bocha in the sink anymore, at 10lbs and 21in. And she’s still a chichi girl, preferring carry carry while standing - her chichi dango Halloween costume was the perfect fit. Our holoholo queen went on her 1st huakai to Hilo & took her first dip in the ocean at Puaena - she cried for a quick moment in the cold kahakai, then fell asleep in its comfort 😌 About sleep, she’s so good at putting herself to sleep now thankfully! Just needs to find her thumb & play with her hair 👍🏽 Speaking of, that’s the only wild thing about her… her hair 😅 not even a bow can tame that mane, but we’re proud of how she lifts her head up high & hope she continues to be that way as she grows 🙏🏽 She’s gonna need to be headstrong to keep up with her big brother & older cousins 😏 But P still loves her the mostest & now we can’t imagine raising them without each other 💕 Happy (belated) 3 months Leh!! We love you so so much chichi!!!

Visiting Hilo used to include naps & late night sessions, but since becoming a makua, these visits aren’t as slow 😅 It started when Mommy took Lehiwa to watch @standingabovetheclouds. Leh didn’t cry the entire time, but mommy sure did 😭 Emotions kept flowing, watching P excited to see his 1st nene in person - how special that this Honolulu boy that loves nene in books & film actually got to see one up close 🥹 Bub was also excited seeing the floating “bus” up close from our room @grandnaniloa. Cheers to a successful night with our two babies asleep comfortably in the same room for the very first time 😅 Mahalo @_loke_loke 🙏🏽 Enjoyed the Kanaka Culinary Explosion, supporting a future of feeding the nation with homegrown cultivation 💚 loved the DIY bouquet & inamona stations, as well as running into mahiai friends from both Hawaii island and Oahu 🥰 The rest of our time was spent making memories with our peeps. Stoked to see friends in their new kuleana to this place & experience the growth of the ones that have been rooting there for some time now. We’re just so grateful that Hilo continues to hold a special place in our puuwai - helping our ohana build some core memories that will hopefully design a consciousness & connection to this aina for our babies. It’s always been the little things about this Big Island that continue to make it magical. And now to include our little things is big time special 🥰

2 lei for our 2 month old Leh ☺️ This little adventure queen has been nonstop with us since she was born but a lot more in this 2nd month - from all day at the beach (didn’t dip her in though) to all day at the loʻi, and attending events with us at night, she’s definitely on track with living Mommy & Daddy’s lifestyle 😁 Luckily, she falls asleep super easily in her carrier & we stopped giving her a pacifier for the car rides too - she’s adjusting so well (knock on wood). Attending more events means the aunties will find her to fuel up on her sweet baby love 💕 Contact naps & co-sleeping does happen from time to time as I mentally prepared to leave her for longer periods & return to work. So thankful my leave was spent taking the kids out as much as possible & even having family over to meet and love on Leh. We also worked on keeping her up during the day so she can sleep thru the night - proud to say it’s worked pretty well even as she’s gotten more aware 👀 Bub still adores his sissy, asking to “mm-mah” her every chance he gets. Can’t blame him, she’s 11lbs and 22.5in of straight cutie 😍 We love you Leh!!!

And now a wholesome Halloween story - read & swipe thru pics 👻 On Hallow’s Eve, a rookie bus driver couldn’t get his bus to move & was stuck in Pauoa. Luckily, a tutu enjoying her fave treat, chichi dango, spotted the little guy in distress & told her husband, who happened to be the strongest papa in Pauoa. He agreed to move the wheels on his bus alllll thru the town. Pauoa town, with its friendliest people, offered the bus driver snacks as he rolled by. The bus driver’s naau was so full in the experience, that he fell asleep before the route ended, leaving the kupuna with more treats than just the chichi dango 😜 when morning came, the Pauoa papa fixed the bus & a forever friendship was solidified between the two, a very Happy Halloween for all 🎃 😝 If you didn’t know, this was always my fave holiday. It’s all in the joy of embracing creativity & enhancing the little details that make tings big fun 🤗 Thankful my little family is along for the (bus) ride 💁🏽‍♀️

Happy birthday Beeb!! What a fruitful, transformational, fun-filled, yet exhausting revolution around the sun, and second year in a row being pregnant and giving birth lol, you hammah! 😅. It’s been so amazing to witness your full embrace of motherhood and all the good and bad that comes with it, yet still making life something that’s full of epic adventures, open mouth laughs, intimate quiet moments, nurtured connections, and growth in all its forms. I’m so grateful I get to be on this roller coaster of a ride with you, and looking back at these snippets of moments from your last revolution, I can only hope for the four of us to continue making lots of new memories and adventures in the revolutions to come. We love you mommy!! Hauʻoli lā hānau iā ʻoe e @rexielala 🎉🍻🍼🙌🏾😘

Wuttup SIS! Lehiwa, aka Sissy, made one whole month back on Sept 17th 🤗 I know..that’s a long time ago now and we’re currently closer to her 2nd month at this point 😅 but I guess that kinda sums up how much busier, more fun, and definitely more tiring life has gotten for mommy and daddy since we became a family of 4, with 2 keiki under 1.5 years old 😵‍💫😆 Our little chichi dango loves being held and carried, and of course, mommy’s chichi. This girl can eat! Lol. But unlike P, she’s slow and steady, takes her time with it, and stretches her meals out over hours. Most especially between the hours of 1am and 6am 😵 which means poor mommy, who hasn’t had a night of consistent sleep since Sissy arrived, but somehow still manages to push thru each day like the absolute champ that she is. 💪🏾 I think it’s also cuz mommy knows all that eating is doing sissy good. Our sweet girl gained a whole 4lbs and grew 2.5 inches in her first month! It makes sense though, cuz the way her big brother loves hard, squeezing and smothering on her, often taking cheap shots whacking her belly or grabbing her face (out of love lol), she‘s determined to put on that weight and catch him up so she can hold her own and soon enough, return the favor 👊🏾 lol. Trust, she’s a scrapper with the fists to show it. It really is the sweetest though, to see how much P genuinely loves his sissy. Even with 2 now, our busy lives don’t stop, which means little Lehiwa has had her fair share of adventures too - from beach cruises in town to family days at Hakipuu, from exploring the kahawai at Papahana to supervising loʻi work at Pops house, from lunch dates to double stroller cruises - this girl has seen a lot in her first month, even if she was sleeping thru it most of the time 💚 She’s also got a strong selfie game, especially taking selfies with her brother 😂 daddy’s proud of her camera skills already lol. Enjoy this month’s Lehiwa selfie :) We love you so much Lehiwaikaililani. Cheers to your first hoʻopiha mahina 💖

HIFF44 is just around the corner with an epic lineup of films this year, especially locally made works! Stoked that 3 projects I worked on, put lots of love into, and made such epic memories being a part of are screening at the festival this year. Tickets go on sale Sept 16th. 🎬 MOLOKAI BOUND (images 1-6) Screening: Oct 9, 7:30p at the Hawaii Theater Roles: 1st AD, Co-Producer, Acting cameo 🤫😅 So stoked this project is being highlighted as the centerpiece film of the festival this year! Big ups to the entire @molokaibound cast, crew, and kōkua who have become family in the process of making this movie. Can’t wait to celebrate with you all! 🎬 RECLAIM (Images 7-12) Screening: Oct 11, 6pm Consolidated Kahala & Oct 13, 2:45pm as part of “Pacific Showcase Shorts: Narrative Soverignty” Roles: Writer, Producer, (co-director) Got to work with some of the best creatives on island and make new lifelong collaborators with the NY team to join forces and uplift the story of two amazing brothers perpetuating their culture through hula. 🎬 ARMEA (Images 13-18) Screening: Oct 6, 11am Consolidated Kahala with the “Reciprocity Project Shorts” Role: Director of Photography Honored to have been a part of this special project, following @rakopasefika back to their homeland of Rotuma to share space with community and elders, interpreting and sharing the stories through their performances. Such a life-changing experience. So much love and gratitude for all the amazing artists, dreamers, practitioners, and friends I got to work with on all of these projects 🙏🏾 You all know who you are ✨ But the biggest mahalo goes to my wife @rexielala who always holds it down and supports me in all the ways through these endeavors. She was actually hāpai with Pūnohu during all 3 of these productions 😅 1st trimester while I shot Armea in Rotuma, 2nd trimester I was in production on Molokai Bound, and 3rd trimester we were filming Reclaim. She’s the real champ 💯 and I can’t wait to celebrate the completion of all these projects with you too love. ✨ Hope to see you all at the theater! 🤙🏾

Sissy is here 🥰 Lehiwaikaililani Claudette Masae Ah Chong made her magical debut on 8/17/24 at 10:32am after an Akua moon of easing into contractions. I felt blessed with a fairly easy labor 🙏🏽 Few months ago, I was thinking of a name to describe admiring fragrant flowers - of prevalence this pregnancy. That very night, I dreamt of holding a tiny baby girl with lots of dark hair that I called “Lehiwa.” When I woke up, I immediately looked it up on wehewehe, and “Lehiwa” was exactly what I tried to find. This summer has been uncomfortably hot, so the random rains have been so refreshing & attractive. Because sissy was unexpected, we included “Ililani” in her name to represent the unexpected rain that she brought upon us, yet admiring her presence & the essence it brings like the smell of flowers, the misty air and the calming sounds: Lehiwaikaililani We knew we wanted to honor our paternal grandma’s: Clara for mine & Bernadette for Jus’s. Combined, we came up with Claudette - classic & elegant like both those matriarchs. Originally we had a Filipino name in mind for sissy, but when she popped out, we immediately saw Jahchong’s maternal grandma, Grandma D. Sissy looked so Okinawan that we had to give her Grandma D’s middle name, Masae, which means blessing. Inoa is such a privilege to give as a makua and to hold as a person. We see it with our son that he is exactly what his name translates to be and such a mirror of those he was named after. If sissy lives up to her inoa piha, then she will be just as graceful, thoughtful, whitty, smart and beautiful as we could hope for ✨

What you imagine they see when they say you look amazing versus what you see 🤭 When you imagine smelling the sweet aroma of flowers versus the stench aroma of toddler poop 🥴 When you’re in a beautiful oasis versus the chaotic living room 🫨 When the sound of birds ease your mind versus the sound of your son pounding something he shouldn’t be touching 🫠 When you can look at what you’re doing and did with your body and think that even if you don’t look/feel amazing, it’s pretty damn amazing 🙏🏽 Likkle Lioness is on the way, any day 😌

Just a quick apprecialuv post for a hammah that’s doing the most! I know a lotta times you don’t feel hammah, especially when you’re exhausted and anxiety is running high (which is most of the time lol), but somehow you hold it all together for me, our growing girl and our beeg little guy. And it was definitely a lot to hold together these past 2.5 months since work for me was non-stop, from directing a short, a tv episode, FestPac madness, long distance trips, scripts and edits due, P’s pāʻina, and the daily grind - you managed to somehow allow me the time and space for all that while juggling your own career, a third trimester pregnancy, an almost 1 year old, planning a party, your music, and the daily home cheffing. You continue to amaze me mama!! And though the anxiety is building with the anticipation of sissy’s arrival, it’s been reassuring to reflect on all the many sweet moments we’ve had amidst the craziness, which let’s me know we’ll find a way to handle it all and still make the most fun of our moments, because that’s what we do. And of course, our community of support from friends and family is always a constant to be grateful for. We love you mommy ❤️✨ @rexielala

Punohu is ONE!!! 😫🤯😱😭❤️!!! A whole year of growing a keiki earthside, us growing as makua, and our love growing exponentially. His pocho side is strong from us both - braddah loves his words! He’s great at telling us what he wants but most especially at what he doesn’t with a firm “no.” 😅 and trust, no really means no for this guy 😬 Mr. independent also doesn’t need us around when he’s having a good time. He’d rather vibe alone at his Gymboree classes, cruising a park or playing with other kids. He does get a little stranger danger vibes unless he sees you consistently. But if Aunty or Unko is down to read him a book or play, then you’re cool in his eyes ☺️ His sleep patterns have sucked lately, HUGE contrast to his predictive nap/bed times before. But thank the U for @ekolumusic & my Legacy Tings album, which always puts his head down the minute we press play! Braddah just has fomo from all the fun/cuddles he gets all the time & loves making sure sissy hears/feels him too 🥹 We’re still not fully walking, just a few steps here & there but mommy is in NO rush. Waddling after a toddler while 7 months preggo in this kauWELA weather is a punohu “no.” 🙅🏽‍♀️ but he will walk for books or food 😂 Our local boy enjoyed his super clean loco moco cake (banana bread and poi) on his 1st bday, followed by an epic celebration the next day with the village that’s helped us raise him for a year 🙏🏽 Mahalo to all of you for your guidance & presence in his journey!! This little guy has changed our lives for the better forever, and we’re filled with gratitude for his beautiful presence every day ✨ Happy 1st birthday, our hiapo. We love you beyond understanding.