I am a Cocktail, a word coined for me by the singer Tom Jones when he discovered my mixed ethnicity - British, Sinhalese and Tamil. During my parents generation stories of intolerance and discrimination in regards to mixed marriage were commonplace - in 1963 my own father, a British gentleman, was forced to leave his job, because of his decision to marry my mother, a Sinhalese "native." As a child of the 70’s and 80’s it was rare to meet another of mixed race, but things have changed a lot over the last forty years. In fact this interracial category now includes almost ten million Americans.
The scope of COCKTAIL, a book of photographs and stories covers almost a century of interracial partnerships - people of all ages who tell us of their multiracial experience - the good and the bad - to raise awareness and celebrate diversity with entertaining and deeply personal insights that allow for humor and self expression giving people of mixed heritage a forum to be heard and seen.
COCKTAIL is a collaboration between Maria Wye Berry and renowned photographer Joseph Puhy. His work can be found in galleries, mulit-national ads, books, DVD covers and websites.
To explore Joseph's work visit: www.puhy.com
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BOOK PLEASE EMAIL ME DIRECTLY 1morecocktail@gmail.com or mariaberry@mac.com