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First Republic Bank seems to have avoided failure this week after a massive cash infusion from the US's biggest banks. This was just a few minutes after the first rumblings of the deposit outflow risk were reaching the public, and the bank manager of this branch must not have heard the news because he came out wondering why I was taking pictures. (at Wellesley, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp5lDwIOHY9/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

A large group of Uber and Lyft drivers gathered outside the Uber Greenlight office in Saugus, Massachusetts, earlier this week to demonstrate in support of employee protections for themselves and similar gig economy workers include the right to unionize. They were joined by activists and union officials including members of SEIU 32BJ and the Independent Drivers Guild. After the rally, most of the crowd entered Uber Greenlight offices to speak directly with Uber employees about their concerns and demands. There are two pieces of state legislation currently put forth in Massachusetts that would give drivers for the companies the ability to unionize, access to a base pay rate and protections such as unemployment insurance. Shot for Bloomberg. (at Saugus, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpVsUk6urSj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

A year ago today, Russia invaded Ukraine. A small group of people gathered outside the Massachusetts State House in opposition to the war, one of the first such demonstrations in the US after the invasion. The crowd included Ukrainian immigrants and students and others from elsewhere in Eastern Europe worried about Ukraine and what the ensuing war meant for the region. Many were checking their phones constantly, waiting for news about loved ones in regions being attacked. I covered the rally for @nytimes. (at Boston, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpDfUBXOttB/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Finally got a taste of winter this year. https://www.instagram.com/p/CpA8Fs0OoVE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Stefanie Jegelka is an Associate Professor at MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a member of MIT's Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory; Institute for Data, Systems, and Society; the Center for Statistics; and the Machine Learning Group. Jegelka's research is in algorithmic machine learning, and spans modeling, optimization algorithms, theory and applications. (at MIT) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co-MBXSuaIz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

It's always so fun to see how pictures end up getting used. The team at Forbes just made a wonderful illustration using one of my photos of Asia's (formerly) richest person Gautam Adani, which been getting a lot of play as the mogul has lost between $50 and $100 billion dollars over the last few weeks. The illustration accompanies one of their "daily cover" stories about the offshore companies run by Gautam Adani's brother Vinod Adani. I love the concept and the design so much. You can see the original picture in slide 3. Credits: Concept by Alicia Hallett-Chan; Illustration by Gracelynn Wan for Forbes; Photos by me and Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images. Published by Forbes 17 Feb 2023. https://www.instagram.com/p/Co7yUW7OCeH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

The day after election day in 2020. (at Lincoln Memorial Washington DC) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co5CruLO_0Y/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Inside Amazon's BOS27 robotics factory and testing facility a little while back for Bloomberg. The Proteus heavy lifting robot in image 2 was designed to have a face similar to farm animals; they said researchers found a face with goat-like eyes struck the right balance between getting humans in the area to recognize the robots as they move around without getting attached to them, similar to how humans work around animals on farms. Always fun to wander around a facility like this, even on a media preview day. https://www.instagram.com/p/CoqIW8hO_BU/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

For @guardian, I had the pleasure to spend a few minutes with Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital Professor of Psychiatry Robert Waldinger, MD, for an article occasioned by the publication of his book "The Good Life: Lessons from the world's longest scientific study of happiness," co-authored with Marc Schulz, PhD. Waldinger is Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which includes The Grant Study, the longest-running scientific study of adult life and happiness. I don't ordinarily take really smiley portraits, but for a story about one of the world's experts on happiness, the editor specifically asked for smiles. And it was a pleasant surprise that one of the portraits was used on the Feb. 6, 2023, cover of the Guardian's Life & Arts section (image 2)! (at Harvard Medical School) https://www.instagram.com/p/ConSCoXu2dg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Here are the final few pictures I'll share from the project following around Gund Kwok, the first all-Asian-women's lion and dragon dance troupe. These are from the Boston's annual Chinatown Lion Dance Parade. The group gathered at 8:30am at their practice den before walking over to participate in the main ceremony and then spent hours visiting businesses up and down the streets of Chinatown. Thanks to everyone in Gund Kwok for letting me follow along as they prepared for the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival celebrations around the area. Wish I could've found a home for the pictures, but that's the way it goes sometimes... (at Chinatown) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cofi-3aOjog/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Gund Kwok, the all-Asian women's lion dance troupe, returned to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., for the first time since the start of the pandemic. It was a packed house; a museum employee said it was the largest crowd they could remember. The group has been performing at the museum for years with an hour-long show filled with set pieces ushering out the old year and bringing in the new. Sifu Cheng Imm Tan wore a fake beard for the introduction. After the show, there was a quick meeting to decide final details on the next day's performances during the Boston Chinatown Lion Dance Parade and the sets, costumes, and props, were packed into a u-haul to go back to Boston. (at Peabody Essex Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/CodLyZYOpHj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

A week before their big performances, members of Gund Kwok performed at the Fo Guang Buddhist Temple in Cambridge, Mass., on the first day of the Lunar New Year. They got ready and practiced some movements in the low-ceilinged basement and then performed in the standing-room-only temple, ending with people feeding the lions red envelopes filled with money to bring luck and prosperity in the new year (and fund the troupe!). https://www.instagram.com/p/CoavcZeuS43/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Gund Kwok, the all-Asian-women's lion and dragon dance troupe, prepares in mid-January for their annual hour-long performance at the Peabody Essex Museum. The group's name means "heroine" in Cantonese. A few of the members told me that while they didn't explicitly join the group seeking out an all-women's troupe, after getting involved they learned about how the art form has historically excluded women from participation. This group being all-women, they said, makes it a welcoming and inclusive place both for new members and for long-standing members to return to week after week while focusing both on the athleticism involved in the performance and its cultural heritage. (at Boston, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoXy2j7OuvV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Throughout January in the lead up to Lunar New Year and Spring Festival holidays, I worked on a personal project profiling Gund Kwok, the first and at the time only all Asian women's lion and dragon dance troupe in the US, now in its 25th year. The group is led by the 65-year-old Sifu Cheng Imm Tan, who founded the group in 1998 as a way to empower Asian women to show their creativity, power, and strength through the art form. One of the troupe members told me the group is first time she's found a safe space exclusively for Asian women. I'll share more this week from the group's practices, dress rehearsals, and performances. (at Boston, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoVhJEzP0NR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Green wheels seen between assignments in Waltham, MA, a little while back. (at Waltham, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn7IKQILMmN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Miho Mazereeuw is an Associate Professor with Tenure in MIT's School of Architecture and Planning and director of the Urban Risk Lab, which brings together "multi-disciplinary groups of researchers to innovate on technologies, materials, processes, and systems to reduce risk." She's seen here in a workshop near her office and with miniature and life-size prototypes of her lab's Prep Hub, a sort of park bench that can serve as a gathering point for information and electricity in an emergency situation, such as a flood. (at MIT) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnxZ9eHOmmY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Birds in Boston Common yesterday. (at Boston Common) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnhfXdGODSU/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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