I AM KOREAN AMERICAN

Own Words

When meeting new people, somewhere along the line they ask me:
1) If im 100% Korean
2) If I was adopted

The answers to those is I am 100% korean and no I was not adopted. They ask me this because of my last name. That it is not a traditional Korean last name. Well the answer to that is because my eldest uncle on my fathers side changed the surname when emigrating to the US. By doing this at the time he believed that it would provide better opportunities, and also that he did not agree with the english translation of 최. He searched for a word and came upon chair, thinking that its pronunciation resembles that have 최. Once having the the word chair he decided to add a “D” at the end because it would be “odd” to have a last name as Chair. That answers the mystery question of why Chaird as a last name.

Personal Bio:
I was born and raised in NJ and here in Jersey I currenly reside. Parents separated at age of 10 lived with mom and older sister (really like a second mother).
Had my rebellious years like everyone all throughout high school.

In high school is when I began to take my first photography and continued to take photography classes till graduation. In college I began as a film/ 3D animation major and pursued that for three years then switched majors to science hoping for a career in the medical field.
During college I have experience with thearter lighting. Producer Assistant on productions. Gaffer assistant on productions. Stunt and combat acting. Extra work. Some graphic and 3D design with animation.

Somewhere along the the line I began to think about the future and being financially stable. So, I changed to the medical field. In that process I joined a rescue squad and work at a hospital as an Emergency Medical Technician. I have learned many things and acquired many great skills for the future, but I came to the realization that this is a field I do not wish to be doing for the rest of my life. Though I enjoy helping others in need and detective work of figuring out what maybe wrong with a patient. At times the stresses of 911 emergency can take a toll mentally and physically. Much respect to my fellow brothers and sisters in the line of duty of police, fire, and ems. Only we will know the reasons why we do the things we do while taking the physical and verbal abuse and rarely ever getting a thank you.

It was about a year ago when I realized my passion was in photography… particularly in wedding and events. Capturing the moments so that people will be able to look back and see the story of their life at that moment. Just being able to capture those memories for a client makes my job more enjoyable.

Everyone with korean parents (in general asian parents) would know how upset they would become when they heard I dropped the medical career and decided to pursue a career in the art field. Im continuing to build my portfolio and enhance my skills in this trade.

My work can be viewed at: www.markchairdphotography.wordpress.com

I thank God for opening the doors to pursue my passion of photograhy. Without God I would have never had the opportunities be the main photographer for the large Christian events, and I would have never met my mentor helping me along the way of becoming an established photographer.

I pray that through the camera and lense, stills be taken where people can see His work and Blessings and realize the Gospel is alive.