chinatown 1st ed.

these are the first photos I publish officially 📸

Hello there! 

I am selling these photos as prints and donating 100% of profits to the Chinatown Community Development Center’s Feed + Fuel Chinatown 2.0 campaign. A good portion of residents living in Chinatown are low income and seniors. Chinatown thrives off of the service sector especially in the restaurant business, which has been promptly shut down due to the pandemic. This campaign is really amazing in that the money will be used to purchase meals from Chinatown restaurants and feed the residents that need it most. It’s pumping lifeblood into the community that will just compound on itself! Chinatown CDC is a registered nonprofit and you can find out more about this campaign here: https://www.chinatowncdc.org/feed-fuel-chinatown-2 

This is also how I am choosing to channel my sadness and frustration as an Asian American. The rise in xenophobia and racist slurs and attacks towards Asian Americans was emboldened by a disgraced former president with his snide comments of COVID being the “China virus”. A lot of other amazing Asian American leaders and friends are using other methods and platforms to draw attention to this issue and create ways of healing - this is my personal approach. When I look at the faces of the elderly who were killed in the past month, I can’t help but see my own grandparents. They could have been the ones taking a walk, unknowing of what a hate filled nation could do. As much anger and hurt these attacks have made me feel, I think about what my grandparents would have wanted had they been the ones targeted. They would have wanted to share a good meal - surrounded by family and friends. Thankfully they are in good health, something I make sure I don’t take for granted. They have always told me that in times of darkness and sorrow to look for kindness and empathy to ignite the lantern and relight the world. 

I started taking film photos during 2020. In college I would take polaroids all the time and I felt like doing proper film photos was the next natural step. I took this series of photos of San Francisco’s Chinatown near the end of September in 2020. During this time fires were ravaging the northeast of the Bay Area. Amidst the haze and the pandemic - Chinatown was empty. The hue of the sunlight tinted the entire city. I felt like I was walking through an 80s Hong Kong film set and snapped these photos. 

I am extremely excited to share these photos with you! I appreciate you reading my personal thoughts and I hope you will consider purchasing these to help Chinatown during this time! I will make sure to post a followup on the donation itself - I promise 100% transparency with this process. Also, if you’d like to donate yourself for an amount you’re more comfortable with please do! You can do so directly on their website. 

Here’s to the Year of the Ox! Happy Lunar New Year - may this year bring you harmony and peace! 新年快乐，和气生财，心想事成 🧧🎇🐄