Jordan Phoenix Kamuela Gestrich
Welina me ke aloha, mahalo for visiting! I am from Kalihilihiolaumiha, Oʻahu and of Native Hawaiian, Filipino, German, and Chinese descent. The Hawaiian side of my family comes from Kaʻu on the Big Island, which is where the ʻohana name Makaliʻi comes from. This is also my inspiration for Makaliʻi Kiʻi, scroll for more info.
As a child, I remember gravitating to old photos of family. I became fascinated with these moments being frozen in time, memories, locked within the frame. This led me to want to document the moments of my life starting with disposable cameras, to camera phones, and eventually grew into a serious hobby while attending college and picked up 120 & 35mm film.
I have worked as a caretaker, farmer, and educator at Ulupō Heiau in Kailua, Oʻahu with the non profit organization, Kauluakalana (Kaulu). Which is where much of my documentary work on here is from. Currently, I am the cultural enrichment specialist at a local school on Oʻahu. I’ve obtained my bachelor of arts degrees in Hawaiian Language & Hawaiian Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Though my inspiration and recent work may fall in the categories of documentary and reportage, I am open to exploring family & couple photoshoots, portraiture, events, and anything else that you may be interested in. Contact me and let’s “talk-story” about what you have in mind. Mahalo!
Makaliʻi Kiʻi
maka: 1. eye, sight, lens of a camera.
2. beloved one, favorite, person.
liʻi: 1. small, tiny.
2. short for aliʻi, chief.
kiʻi: image, photograph
Makaliʻi Kiʻi. Simply to mean the small lens that captures images. Or Makaliʻi Photography.
Digging deeper, Maka, can mean the many eyes that cross my lens. It is the many loved ones I’ve descended from, and the beloved ones who partner with me in my photography.
Liʻi, describing maka, because we are tiny in the grand scheme of things.
Kiʻi, the images that will live on to tell the stories we choose to frame to our beloved in the generations to come.
