Portraits of Hmong Women is a photography documentary with essays giving tribute to the unknown lives of Hmong women and preserving an important part of Hmong American history. It gives voice to the silence that Hmong women have carried.​

Many books, research papers, and studies have touched on the subject of Hmong women but have not given the women themselves voices or told stories from their point of view. This book contains past and recent experiences of Hmong women and how cultural, environmental, and social factors influence and shapes their lives. With the last wave of Hmong migrating from Watt Them Kapok refugee camp in Thailand [2004] to more developed nations, this research is significant in capturing the vanishing stories of the last generation of Hmong women in the Vietnam War era and from the homelands of Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand.

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The Hmong women are from Wisconsin, North Carolina, Minnesota, and California. All the Hmong women are first-generation Hmong who was born in Laos or Thailand and emigrated to the United States.

Portraits reveal the women’s memories of life in their homeland, their often heart-breaking escape from the atrocities of the Vietnam War, and their adjustment to new lives in America. The portraits feature two images of each woman in one frame. One image is of the woman in her present environment, and the other is of that same woman in traditional Hmong clothing. Combining both images provides a stark time-lapse depicting each woman’s present identity and how she reconciles that with a difficult past. The traditional clothing identifies each woman within her Hmong clan and illustrates an appreciation of herself, pride and dignity in her heritage, and a sense of belonging.

Portraits frames specific issues, such as living with polygamy, losing cultural identity, breaking the mold of the “traditional passive” woman role, growing up bicultural, and coping with mental, emotional, and physical abuse. The stories are both poignant and uplifting and resonate with people of all cultures and backgrounds.

The Hmong women were picked from personal references through the writers’ connections in the Hmong community. After choosing the participants, the writers set up various times and dates over a two-year period to talk to the participants and photograph them. Ms. Vang’s research was conducted while spending time with the participants - cooking, eating, and conversing in a casual atmosphere — to build trust and bond with the participants. When traveling to meet participants out of town, Ms. Vang often brought her family with her to partake in the whole experience of “getting to know your neighbor.”

​Ms. Xiong conducted her interviews the same way, with some interviews over the phone. The majority of the conversations were recorded. After each interview, the writers would write the participant’s story in the first person, submerging themselves in the participant’s life. The writers then sent the story to the participants to review and edit for accuracy and content. Two women chose to write their own stories, Mai Neng Moua and Pa Moua. Sara Woelfel edited the stories.