JEN collects PIX of expressive vanity plates
By Wade Kilohana Shirkey
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Jennifer Shim, right, and her friend Brigitte Noguchi celebrate Shim's hobby: photographing vanity license plates.
Val Loh |
Commercial graphic artist and photographer Jennifer Shim calls her avocation "PL8SPK." She photographically collects slogans of today's culture as found on vanity license plates.
In a recent art show at Coffeeline coffeehouse in Manoa, titled "Vanity: 1001 Photographs," Shim let the plates speak for themselves on the show's promotional flyers. "MY DEBUT," and "CHKMEOT" the licenses read. They were both photographed on California cars.
The 27-year-old Tantalus resident came by the unusual hobby while living in California: "On the freeway in Los Angeles, I could always count on two things: a long drive and something to read.
"With 7 million drivers in fancy, expensive cars, it's not a surprise the car license plate has become the medium of expression," she said. "The big thing in L.A. is people want you to know who they are — (otherwise,) everything is so random, so anonymous.
Drivers express themselves in seven characters or less — six in Hawai'i. In California, they also can use symbols such as hearts, stars and a hand; thus, "LA SUPAH."
"Abbreviations" run the gamut, she said, from the ridiculously easy — such as "NO LMTZ" (no limits) and "DVST8ED" (devastated) — to ones that require a bit of thought: "U4IKLUV" (euphoric love). Some are just cute: "OME OMY," or "N MYDRMS."
For some, said Shim, you have to "be up on the area" and local lingo. For example, "MLBU DAD" (Malibu dad).
Some, only the owners know the meaning: "FROG DOC" — a veterinarian? "BLP MUSE"? "That one, I can't figure out," she said. "Some of the plates have convoluted stories behind them that meander down a path of many renditions and possibilities."
A certain linguistic proficiency helps, she said. She's found plates in Hebrew — "I LUV ABA" or "hasavta," Hebrew for father, and grandmother, respectively — Arabic, lots of Spanish in California, of course, and Hawaiian, even Sanskrit.
You also have to consider such possibilities as backward writing, improper grammar and numerals replacing letters.
Hawai'i-related plates are a favorite of Shim's. She's spotted "AN-TMOM" ("Auntie Mom") on a California plate. "That's very Hawaiian," she said.
More Hawai'i-style finds: "HONU 55," "IMUA 74," "OAHU HI," "PUAMNA, "NO PUSH" and the very clever "KOU KAA" (my car).
"WAHINE" was on a North Dakota plate, "HUHYN" (Hawaiian) on a Washington car.
Auto registration censors must be doing a good job, Shim said. Very few in her collection feature sexual innuendo, although a few could be considered suggestive: "MISBEHAVE," on an Idaho plate. Or "1 TRK MND," (one- track mind).
A few, she noted, have less-than-politically-correct natures: "CHNAMN" means "Chinaman," Shim guesses.
Since these 21st-century literary masterpieces are often on guys' cars or motorcycles, many relate to their beloved hunks of steel: "BIM AGE" is the "adjective form" of BMW, Shim surmises. Then there's "318 CUDA," "DART 440," "DRTH VW" (Darth VW, instead of Vader?), and "6D6 HEMI".
Sports fanatics produced "4DE9ERS" and "SF 49S."
There's little to stop a driver from a little automotive self-praise: "GOD GIVEN," "1QT DEVL," even "FILLY," all on California plates.
Her photographic technique? "Hit and run," she said.
She often shoots pictures while driving. "When I do ask (permission), they look at me like I'm weird."
Find out more on Shim's Web site: www.jenpix.com. Her license plate reads "JEN PIX." "OH JENN" and "C JEN GO" belong to somebody else.
Reach Wade Kilohana Shirkey at wshirkey@honoluluadvertiser.com.
