Photographer Brian Van Lau’s debut monograph, We’re Just Here for the Bad Guys, chronicles Lau’s relationship with his estranged father who was absent during Lau’s childhood due to his incarceration. After his release, Lau’s father rebuilt his life in Vietnam and disappeared from Lau’s life for nearly a decade. Lau traveled to Vietnam following news of a sudden illness and learned his father had terminal cancer. During their final week together, Lau and his father collaborated on a photographic project that documented his father’s unsuccessful recovery. Lau returned to his hometown in Hawai‘i seeking closure. Entrusted with dispersing his father’s ashes across O‘ahu, Lau began working with his grandparents to reconstruct his fragmented family history through photography, uncovering hidden previously unknown parts of his father’s life.
We’re Just Here for the Bad Guys, published by Light Work, is available to order now.