Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 6, 1 June 2013 — PORIRAITS IN PURITY Roger Keliiokalani Kepoo of Pearl City, Oʻahu. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PORIRAITS IN PURITY Roger Keliiokalani Kepoo of Pearl City, Oʻahu.

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By Mary Aliee Ka'iulani Milham

What does a pure Hawaiian look Hke? It may seem like a simple question. But for freelance photographer Jordan Murph, it had profound impacts, launching a project to create a photographic archive of pure Hawaiians called Hawai'i Piha (full).

Murph, 29, knew he wanted to be a photographer ever since he was a senior at Kamehameha Schools. He wasn't sure how, but, he says, onee the photography bug bit him, "I just knew deep down inside I wanted to use photography to help Hawaiians somehow, some way." It was that question, "What does a pure Hawaiian look like?" asked during a random conversation at a hair salon, that gave him his answer. When he thought about it, Murph found that, despite being part-Hawaiian and raised on

Hawai'i Island, he couldn't really say. Even his own great-grandfather, who was pure Hawaiian, left no photograph to show him. If that was also true for others, he reasoned, then it was something he could change. And that's when what started as a question, heeame a quest. For Murph, it was his kuleana - his responsibil-

ity and privilege. He knew, from watching the documentary Then There WereNone, that the pure Hawaiian population was estimated at only 4,000 to 6,000. Finding his subjects was the inihal challenge. Online research tumed up only historic photographs of Hawaiian royalty and personages like Duke Kahanamoku. It took a year and a half to find andphotograph his first group of pure Hawaiians and several more months for his second. Most connections have been made through the "coconut wireless" and through his Kamehameha Schools alumni Facebook page.

With increased exposure, the project has gotten traction and more pure Hawaiians have emerged to add to his list. As a freelance photographer without the benefit of grant funding, the challenge now is finding the time and resources for travel to meet, photograph and interview his subjects in Hawai'i and scattered on the continent in places like Washington state and Fas Vegas. Murph - whose work has appeared in Sports IUustrated, the New York Times and ESPN The Magazine - recently contracted with the Fos Angeles Angels baseball team as the organization's photo editor and archivist and now lives in Fos Angeles. Although he's often asked about exhibits and whether his Hawai'i Piha photos will be published in a book, for now his priority is finding and photographing as many pure Hawaiians as he ean. "They're kūpuna," says Murph. "They're not going to be around mueh longer, so I want to focus my energies on meeting them and spending time with them, photographing them, finding them . . . and listening to them." To help Murph find pure Hawaiians to photograph, please contact him via e-mail at jordan@ jordanmurph.com, by phone at (808) 372-9296 or on his website, www.jordanmurph.com/ hawaii-piha. ■

Marv Ali.ce Ka'iulani MUham, a Portland, Ore-gon-based freelance journalist, is a former newspaper reporter and colunmist from Californi.a 's Central Coast.

OHA Mālama Loan

Jordan Murph is among the more than 200 entrepreneurs whose work is supported with a Mālama Loan from OHA. Murph says the loan played an important part in advancing his career, helping him buy the necessary gearto go from assisting to "shooter." "Professional digital camera equipment is quite expensive," he says. "Without 0HA's help, I would not have been able to take my business and photographytothe next level." Low-interest Mālama Loans for Native Hawaiians ean be used for business expansion or start up, as well as home improvement and education. To find out more, visit www. oha.org or contact Robert Crowell at robertc@ oha.org or (808) 594-1924.

www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org NATIVE HAWAiiAN » NEWS | FEATURES | EVENTS

ūaniel Kaleoaloha Kaawa of Nōnōkuli, O'ahu.

Pure Hawaiians and their handprints, from top, Elizabeth Kalani Moa Hoomanawanui of Hilo, Hawai'i; Arthur ūamien Kahuawailani lokepa of Hilo, Hawai'i; and Ka'ila Williams, far right.

Jordan Murph, the photographer behind Hawai'i Piha. - Courtesy photo

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