This blog will complement my photographic work on the Chinatowns of the United States & Canada, starting with the first solo exhibition of the project at Craig Krull Gallery in Santa Monica, CA. The imagery stands on its own but my travels through over 50 Chinatowns in the last fifteen+ years and the stories of those whom I have met as well as the many organizations involved with this history and continuing present deserve attention. I am eager to share my journey.

Thursday, September 28, 2023

 CHECKING IN FROM 2017 ...


It has been too long and yet, FINDING CHINATOWN: AN AMERICAN STORY continues.  

I was in Detroit. last week, the end of another longterm project, to photograph my 20th visit there and at the top of my list, a search for what remains, so little of the Chinese presence in that city.  My first photograph there, way back in 2011 was of the dark, cold (January) street on Cass where once the Chinese community first flourished.  Today all that's left is the sign, "Welcome to ... "

That said, Detroit hold surprises and for me, this trip was to a decrepit old building behind fences, the old STanley Hong Mannia (Manilla) Cafe, know as a great Chinese restaurant and entertainment venue.  

It's been purchased now and about to be renovated. Its history: Owned by a Chinese immigrant to Detroit, and with the help of Nathan Johnson, a known Black architect of the city, the Chinese restaurant was a busy gathering place for Detroit.  It's google architecture attracted many and along with his brothers, STanley Hong attracted musical acts, hiphop stars and others to a terrific DEtroit scene.  https://www.metrotimes.com/music/music-venue-at-former-chinese-restaurant-with-ties-to-detroit-hip-hop-clears-historic-district-commission-28596162

Jen Lyons, a NY/Detroit promoter is planning to bring back the magic ...







Friday, January 5, 2018

2017 Lunar New Year Update - a year late!



2017 was a busy, remarkable year and while my annual Lunar New Year post went out to so many, I forgot to post it here!  In fact, the next Lunar New Year 2018 is almost upon us and the Year of the Rooster will turn into the Year of the Dog.  

That said, since we are still in the Year of the Rooster for another month (this year the Lunar New Year is quite late in the cycle, starting mid-February), the 2017 update is still viewable at 
https://us4.campaign-archive.com/?u=013a28d9f024038bd399086bb&id=01a1f6a95d&e=0351ba6630


As well, I am posting excerpts from it here...

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!!!!!
(a little late since the Spring Festival now has passed but .... )

It has been a busy year for me and our planned annual exploration of even newer temples and associations with our friends fell apart at the last minute so, since this part of my long-term FINDING CHINATOWN: AN AMERICAN STORY photographic project that continues, I simply wandered to downtown Los Angeles on the Lunar New Year's Eve to my favorite temple, Chua Ba Thien Hau, to visit with the friends I have made there this past dozen or so years.  It is always worth it for attendees - from regular worshippers to tourists taking in the fireworks - are full of cheer, hope and community as we all celebrate this strong tradition.

Lion dancers, drummers and fireworks make for a festive night of understanding and participation that underscores the strong multi-cultural fabric of our country.
I especially love the lion dancers, teams of two usually young men - although women have been joining recently - from associations that join together, from time to time even in someone's back yard, to learn the arduous physical coordination of the lion dance and its celebratory, "good luck' role in the New Year and other ceremonial occasions.  There is long history to China's fascination with lions, actually not native to most of China and the artistry of the lion costume and the traditions they perform: the dancers allowing themselves in large crowds to be petted for good luck; "eating" the traditional offering of lettuce, then spitting it out to be caught, again for good luck; and just plain entertaining the crowd.  Between the drums that accompany them and the ritual, one is definitely in the moment.

A bit more plus a fun YouTube 1981 film snippet:



As always, I am thankful to the participants in this holiday, those I know and those I meet in the crowds who permit me to photograph and join them in this holiday.  In these strange times in the United  States especially, we have to learn about and treasure all of our engaging histories and cultures that have created and continue to strengthen our great democratic experiment.  A new year is about hope - whether Chinese, Gregorian or whatever - and with hope comes understanding and community.  Let's go on.

Updates:

TYRUS
ONE: It is with great sadness that I announce that my friend and photographic subject, TYRUS WONG, passed away on 30 December 2016. He was 106 years old but his age was not the characteristic most celebrated.  Rather it was his artistry for, starting with a modest fine art career Tyrus attained great artistic heights in his artwork: the inspiration for Disney's Bambi, his paintings, his ceramics and for me, his handmade kites. that he flew even this past summer.  Tyrus demonstrated what it truly means to be an artist.  That, along with great humility, a sense of humor and a welcoming to all whom he encountered, will make him truly missed.




The New York Times (front page!), CBS Morning News and worldwide media celebrated his passing .  Pamela Tom's beautiful film, TYRUS, will have an airing on American Masters (PBS ) this summer.  I was so honored that many of these resources pubilshed my photographs of Tyrus.




TWO: In April (opening Sunday, 2 April through 28 July), my prints of Tyrus & His Kites out at the beach will accompany several of his wonderful handmade kites in an exhibition by the Malibu Cultural Arts Commission at Malibu Civic Center.



2018 update ...THREE: TYRUS WONG: THE MOVIE was broadcast on PBS/American Masters in Fall 2017.  Still available for broadcast or sale at PBS!  Pamela Tom did incredible work on this American story, one representative of the so valuable place for immigration in this country.








DETROIT:DEFINITION: 
ONE: THE ARCHITECTURAL IMAGINATION, the US Pavillion’s entry at the 2016 Venice Biennale/Architecture that includes my photographic view of Detroit, has just opened at MOCAD (The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit) as part of WINTER EXHIBITIONS 2017.   February 11, 2017- April 16, 2017



TWO: The Fall 2016 exhibition in Paris of my in-progress DETROIT:DEFINITION project was wonderful and beautifullly installed by Olivier Spillebout, my gallerist both here and of last year's exhibition at Maison de la Photographie, Lille.  I was delighted to welcome so many visitors to the show, including friends in for Paris Photo Week.  My thanks as well to my co-exhibitor, Guillaume Rivière whose Detroit work was a great counterpoint to my own.



LIFE DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME
2018 UPDATE:
LIFE DOESN"T FRIGHTEN ME: The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition is being released this next week, 9 January 2018!  I am delighted to have been able to update these amazing artists biographies and add an afterword as well as bring this classic book, my first and most important one for me, to new - and old audiences.  Look for more and, delighted to share here the first review, published on Shelf Awareness by reviewer Terry Hong, resident blogger, among many other activities, for the Smithsonian. Asian Pacific American Center's BOOK DRAGON.  http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3156#m38936



ONE: I am delighted to announce that my first book, the multiple award-winning LIFE DOESN'T FRIGHTEN ME (STEWART, TABORI & CHANG/Abrams 1993) is being readied by Abrams Books for a 25th Anniversary Edition!  Still in print all these years, LIFE will be released in this new edition next January 2018!

I have been busily updating the biographies of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Dr. Maya Angelou whose expressive and poetic work I paired to make this book and so look forward to its continued vibrancy for future readers.  More to come!!!



MISCELLANEOUS

Recently several of my photographs were licensed for publication to Vassar Magazine, The Taubman School of Architecture at the University of Michigan, CBS Sunday Morning, New York Times, Voice of America, The Mockingbird Magazine and INTERVIEW Magazine/Germany.


My thanks as always to those who have allowed me in to photograph and learn more about them. Without their gracious invitations, I could not accomplish what I hope to do.
I am now also found on Instagram where I am having a great time posting more "casual" photographs, never knowing however when one of those might lead to a new project.  Always searching!   https://www.instagram.com/sarajaneboyersphoto/?hl=en






Sara Jane Boyers
sjboyers@sarajaneboyersphoto,com

www.sarajaneboyersphoto.com
www.sarajaneboyersisaloud.blogspot.com
www.findingchinatown.blogspot.com
www.detroitdefinition.blogspot.com
©Copyright 2017  Sara Jane Boyers, All Rights Reserved








Thursday, January 5, 2017


I was getting into my car this past Friday when I was messaged that my friend, 106-year old artist Tyrus Wong, had just died. 

This wonderful man, an artist who combatted racial barriers, was the oldest living graduate of Otis Art Institute here in Los Angeles.  His work was the inspiration for Disney's BAMBI, and someone whom I was honored to know in the last decade+ of his long and creative, courageous life

I was turning onto the PCH on this rainy/cloudy day and knew I had to stop at the beach where Tyrus, the subject of a longterm photo project made possible only by the gracious acceptance of me and my camera by Tyrus and his wonderful family, brought his handmade kites for over 40 years to fly. I last captured him there last summer even at the grand age of 105.
 

Today, though overcast, the sky looked like one of Tyrus' beautiful paintings. The wind which Tyrus would have so appreciated seemed to be whisking him away to another place.

 

His family told me that my photograph of Tyrus in a deep fog on a New Years Eve Day some years ago, only one day from now, was one they placed at the foot of his bed and he continued to comment on it for its loveliness.
I am so honored to have known and learned from him. RIP, Tyrus Wong. 


The New York Times published news of Tyrus' death on their front page with a beautiful inside obit.  the Times requested my photograph of Tyrus mentioned above for their article. 



Saturday, February 20, 2016

SaraJaneBoyersPhoto_2016 Lunar New Year Greeting



HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!
GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!   Xīn Nián Kuài Lè!




I am so pleased to send out my annual LUNAR NEW YEAR GREETING, the continuation of my 15+ years of exploration of the Chinatowns of the United States and Canada for my long-term photographic project, FINDING CHINATOWN: AN AMERICAN STORY.  Most of the principal photography for the project is completed - still to definitely explore: Honolulu and Calgary! - yet, at the time of the Spring Festival that is the start of the Lunar New Year, I am always drawn back to the Chinatown of my youth, that of downtown Los Angeles where my father worked. And, while this annual visit has expanded over the years to the grander and newer venues of LA County's San Gabriel Valley, this year it was refreshing albeit a bit disconcerting to return to DTLA.

Below is one of my very early in the project (2005) photographs of the New Year's festivities: a film capture from my pre-digital (and still lamented) period that is also prompting me to return to my transparency files to see what else I might have captured then that have not yet been scanned.  Who knows what else I might find!





We are now in the Year of the Monkey, commencing with the Spring Festival that started with the Lunar New Year on Monday, 8 February 2016 and continues until the Lantern Festival on 22 February, 15 days after the start of the New Year.   On the Chinese calendar, it is now Year 4713, a year that continues until 27 January 2017. If you are born in the Year of the Red Fire Monkey your character is smart, clever and a bit tempestuous.

There are many ways to celebrate the Spring Festival not only in the United States but around the world as cultural diversity is a factor in the traditional activities. Several explanations of the Spring Festival and specifically, the Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival are on links noted here.  In some cities, there may be Lantern Festival celebrations this weekend and I encourage you to experience this moment!

We were out in DTLA's Chinatown the day prior, Sunday 7 February, to capture the New Years Eve festivities. As in past years, we wandered with our friends, Eugene and Susan Moy whom we met at the Chinese Historical Society of  Southern California of which Eugene is President Emeritus. CHSSC is located in two 19th century buildings on Bernard Street that hold a lovely collection of the Chinese American experience.  With exhibits and monthly talks, the CHSSC is open to all by appointment and on Sundays by walk-in from 1-5pm.

Waiting for all to arrive, I had a chance to capture a bit more there including the library with shelves full of Chinese American-related history and an incredibly beautiful 60 year-old lion dancer mask used primarily in New Year's ceremonies to ward off evil and to bless temples, business and even weddings.  We'll see more of the dancers later in the night.  http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/Chinese_Customs/lion_dance.htm




And then we walked... peeking into stores and restaurants replete with New Year's offerings, hoping to find some early evening preparations and celebrations and, of course, have a "family" meal.  As always in LA, the cultures mash together and although closed early for the New Year, a temple that overlooks Philippe's - an historic eating venue that has line-ups during Dodger Games - intrigues and calls for a visit to view its multi-headed Buddha. That same location is also only one block away from the original Chinatown in Los Angeles and the historic founding center of the city, Olvera Street and it's original mission church.  Nearby however, an historic building, a market, stood out in this fast-changing Chinatown.  Simple, modest but representative of the history and services available in one of the major entry points of new American populations.  Nearby is a vinyl record store, a Thai restaurant and other evidence of LA's diverse influences and culture.





As noted in previous Lunar New Year greetings, things are changing. Neighborhoods historically undesirable and where ethnic and racial immigrant group were once ghettoized have become new hot urban real estate. With this gentrification there is loss. Property values have increased and new investment, while giving lip service to what has come before, changes the living conditions.

My home, Los Angeles, leads the pack and 'pack" is an appropriate word as developers slink in. As we walk Chinatown's streets, construction abounds with lofts with high rental/sale rates.  Newer immigrants from SE Asia and elsewhere cannot afford these prices and there results a disintegration of communities that prepare these newer populations for the US.

Yet some stay. Brigham Yen's blog, DTLA Rising, notes the brand new Southern California Teo Chew Association (or "Teo-chew") Cultural Center/Buddhist Temple that opened just the day prior to our tour. The Teo-Chew population, whose dialect is distinctly their's, initially emigrated from Guangdong province. In recent decades they arrived in LA from various stopovers of a generation or so in Southeast Asia. From Brigham's early post (2013): "I am very glad to see new cultural projects like this still being invested in Chinatown as it shows that the Chinese community is still involved, and as a result, helps keep the district’s cultural and historical identity alive."

Built upon the old Center's land and with a beautiful new gate, the temple is a stunning traditional design.  I had photographed in the old store-front building a few years ago so it was exciting to visit their spanking new structure; so new that construction ladders were still on the floor. Just like the Thien Hau Temple, our final destination this New Year's Eve, that I had first photographed over 10 years ago in its old building and then visited the day of its new temple's inauguration, the Teo-Chew Center is presently pristine: no smoke from incense yet softens the view; the wall-framed canvas still vacant of ribbons and symbols of donors' generous gifts for luck and success.  Like Thien Hau, the elegance is there and the personality will soon come.


 



Teo-Chew was getting ready for a spectacular New Year's Eve, a new alternative to the crowds at Thien Hau Temple a block away, sharing pyrotechnicians and lion dancers.  So we ambled over to Thien Hau just in case their fireworks were early and, at 11pm rather than midnight, they were.

The crowds had gathered earlier to pray over incense and offerings and to wander the temple. By the time we arrived, almost all were outside, including so many children whose late night New Year's Eve outing promises long lives. Remaining inside the temper were those who no doubt wished to be as near as possible to the lion dancers when they entered so they could touch them for good luck.  On side tables along the back others were engaged in New Year's Day prep: chopping lettuce and vegetables for the vegetarian soup to be traditionally served starting after midnight.

From the cool silent sparkle of Teo-Chow, all here on the street and inside was busy, crowded and very red, a color of good luck.







As always, I am thankful to the many in Chinatown who allow me to share this holiday with them.  As midnight comes, we are offered food and wishes for the start of this new year.  The traditions of the New Year are longstanding, full of symbolism and meaning and the graciousness of celebrants to others underlies the evening.  Let us all hope that we can follow in these footsteps.




Photographic Project Updates!
Several very good announcements soon that aren't quite yet pubic so here just a quick update:

TYRUS, filmmaker Pamela Tom's longterm labor of love about 105 year-old artist Tyrus Wong, is making festival rounds,  On 10 March, its screening is the opening night event at San Francisco's prestigious CAAM FEST sponsored by the Center for Asian American Media.  I am honored that my photographs of Tyrus out at the beach were used in the main end title credits.  TYRUS, the Movie is winning award after award on the festival circuit.





CHINESE AMERICAN: EXCLUSION/INCLUSION, the comprehensive exhibition organized by and held last year at the New York Historical Society and in which I have several photographs of Tyrus Wong, is now at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland  through 1 June 2016.





DETROIT:DEFINITION, my long-term project on the city of my birth continues.  In January I made my 10th visit to this amazing city that is proving itself to be an example of how cities can not only survive but regenerate in a creative 21st Century manner.  More current images are presently online on my website, sarajaneboyersphoto.com, including installation views from my exhibition this past Fall at Maison de la Photographie in Lille, France as part of the LILLE3000/Renaissance Triennale.


A catalog of the show can be viewed online at https://issuu.com/sarajaneboyersphoto/docs/detroit_definitionatmaisonphoto_lil

I was so honored that this past Fall's Detroit Homecoming Conference created a wall poster of my work and printed a photo of mine on their conference booklet cover.

Best: some exciting news about this project soon to come!

Below: my birth home through the visits...



Gung Hay Fat Choy!





Friday, March 6, 2015

SaraJaneBoyersPhoto_2015 Lunar New Year Greeting




HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!   Xīn Nián Kuài Lè!
羊 yáng


Inspired as always by my adventures in photographing for my long-term photographic project, FINDING CHINATOWN: AN AMERICAN STORY, I conducted my annual visit to the greater Southern California Chinatowns to photograph the Lunar New Year.  The dates of this 15 day celebration, the Spring Festival, vary each year as the Chinese calendar directs the start and finish of this holiday, the last day known as the Lantern Festival.  That festival just ended and we are now officially in the
Chinese calendar year, 4713.

I am in the 15th year of my FINDING CHINATOWN: AN AMERICAN STORY photographic project, one that I do not pursue as actively as before nevertheless  the Lunar New Year each year reminds me of the strong story the Chinatowns reveal that is meaningful to all of us here in North America and certainly beyond. That story is about our continuing social and cultural evolution, especially in this past 100 years with the greater opportunities for travel, combined with recognition of the very many communities in our nations.  Photographing in the greater Southern California Chinatowns reminds us of the wealth of diversity that influences what we eat, what we learn and how we approach one another.  Combined with the joy and tradition of a New Year, it is a joyous moment.

The zodiac animal of this year's celebration is a bit inexact: THE [wood] GOAT or THE RAM or THE SHEEP.  Various websites offer different interpretations of the animal symbol for this year but this one, from ChinaHighlights.com explains it well:

Chinese symbol for sheep"Is It the Year of the Sheep, Goat, or Ram?

Actually, Chinese people are also not quite sure about that. In Chinese the word 羊 (yáng) is a generic term, and can refer to a sheep (绵羊), goat (山羊), ram/buck (公羊 male sheep or goat), 羚羊 (antelope), etc. There is a lack of clear definition on the zodiac "Goat" in Chinese history.
However, most Chinese people and experts on folklore believe that the Chinese zodiac animal is the Goat, not the Sheep, and they have some evidence to support their idea...
... the Chinese zodiac is an invention of the Han Nationality, and goats were widely raised by the Han people (unlike sheep), so the zodiac animal is more likely to refer to a goat.
... a Goat image often appears on Chinese zodiac stamps, New Year paper cuttings, and New Year paintings (not a sheep).
... the Goat was one of the 12 bronze statues of the Chinese zodiac at the Old Summer Palace. Although its head was lost, its present reproduction according to historical records is the image of a goat."

For those born in this zodiac year, you are known to be artistic, gentle, kindhearted, social and relatively healthy.  For the rest of us, a year of harmony in general is promised.  Several sites to investigate:
http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/goat.asp
http://www.china-family-adventure.com/year-of-the-sheep.html#.VO4gbsaNtQI

http://astrologyclub.org/chinese-horoscope/2015-year-sheep/
http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/2015ChineseHoroscope.htm


Not having many opportunities to photograph goats wandering through Los Angeles recently, I made the editorial choice to depict the sheep banner chosen by Beverly Hills for the New Year (as well as a couple of Malibu stars from my sheepherding days).  Finally and after way too long, American cities have finally awakened to the realization that there is a large and growing population of Americans of Asian descent who have been continually making substantial contribution to our knowledge, culture and wealth for at least 150+ years of our country's existence.  It seems about time.
This year, instead of a mammoth run to as many temples as we could visit and joined again by Susan and Eugene Moy - Eugene, the President Emeritus of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California - we decided to return to one or two previously visited and explore the new year's experience more meaningfully there.  We also decided to eat, using a recent LA Weekly article on the "Best Chinese Restaurants in LA." and landed at a terrific restaurant in a Rosemead strip mall: Shaanxi Gourmet, decorated by replicas of the terra cotta warriors from their central mainland province and with a menu noted for long and delicious handmade biang biang noodles and dumplings, especially from the region's capital, Xian.

Several links to this cuisine around the United States:
http://www.sfgate.com/recipes/article/Burgers-and-pasta-Chinese-style-a-taste-of-5517654.php
http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-xian-kitchen-shaanxi-city-of-industry-20141208-story.html
http://www.splendidtable.org/story/xian-famous-foods-bringing-a-little-known-chinese-cuisine-to-new-york-city
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/shaanxi/xian/xian-dumpling-dinner.htm


The majority of the evening was spent at Waken Temple, a Buddhist temple on Lower Azusa Road in El Monte.  According to tradition is it important to pray on the Eve, from around 10pm to midnight, the "first hour" of the New Year.  As distinct from many of the "family" temples, Waken offers a more substantive spiritual experience, including a lecture by the Master - here in Chinese and following in English - that exhorted us to understand not only the blessings but the mistakes and failures one encounters.  We sat on cushions, having shed our shoes at the entrance.  As the New Year is approached, incense candles are lit and deposited at the smoky altar outside the entrance and worshippers line up before the Master for a palm leaf blessing of luck and prosperity for the New Year.  Within the serene interior, simply and elegantly organized altars and images of the buddha, here the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva; it certainly became a moment to pray.

Far from Thien Hau's traditional midnight fireworks display in downtown LA, we left Waken Temple before midnight to again honor the New Year at the Hai Nam Association of Southern California, noted for their electrified lion dancers.  It is an association I have been visiting for many years, first in downtown LA and since 2010 in their new building in El Monte.  Modeled on historic structures similar to the early Chinese temples, it is full of celebrants moving from one buddha's altar to another, lighting incense, bowing and praying before each Buddha, shaking sticks and other devices to advance lucky chances for the next year. By this time of the night, the scent and smoke from the incense candles can be overpowering while enhancing the mysticism of these symbolic rituals. Right after midnight, we enjoyed the first soup of the year, vegetarian as are all meals on the New Year day.
On New Year's Day I returned to the downtown Los Angeles Chinatown to wander and, as always, to visit the Thien Hau Temple, the building of their new building in 2005 an event that convinced me to continue with my FINDING CHINATOWN project.   Not yet understanding enough then about why I was so interested in photographing the Chinatowns of the US & Canada, Thien Hau helped reveal to me not only the history of my home Chinatown but also became symbolic of the very American story that I was capturing: the continuing and changing immigration patterns to this country of promise that drew so many of our families here.  Here is living history of the Americas, a tale of early traditions, immigration, exclusion, then inclusion (somewhat) and a gradual weaving of many strands that comprise a continually evolving fabric of our populations.

Specifically in the Chinatowns, first populated primarily by people arriving from the Guangdong province/Cantonese,  then in the last 30+ years or so many from Taiwan and Hong Kong and then again, even as later generations of the early Cantonese speakers moved out into the general national population, others from Asia and Southeast Asia arrived, taking over buildings and neighborhoods. This is a typical immigration pattern also experienced by earlier religious and ethnic groups who upon first arrival and for a generation or two gathered together in like-speaking neighborhoods, voluntarily and not-so-voluntarily, then moved on into the general population.

Thien Hau is a Los Angeles example of a second or third phase of change.  Its founding congregants were ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, part of the "boat people."   Ten/eleven  years ago, when I first visited, the large new temple was in construction, based upon an original temple in China's Camau district and built with imported materials from China by imported-for-this-project Chinese craftsmen.  Its construction signaled a new fresh approach to the aging Downtown Chinatown and where, in typical California fashion, the old building that housed ThienHau transitioned over time from a small Italian Baptist church to a Mandarin Baptist one to ultimately the small older Thien Hau Temple.  In 2005, the old temple was destroyed in very typical American fashion, to make way for a parking lot for the new temple.  There I photographed its last days.

Now, ten years later more change in coming into the downtown Chinatown as more temples have been built by ethnic Chinese from Cambodia, and yet, even as these rise, the Chinatown itself is mirroring Los Angeles downtown's residential boom with the greater population, the cost of living is rising and many of the older or the newer immigrant families have left and another city change is coming.  Such is the nature of our US cities.  Nevertheless, the New Year's day is full of good will.  Families arrive here from all over Southern California, often outfitted in traditional clothing, much of it red for good luck, coming to the temple  for prayers, for vegetarian meals, for introducing their often American-born children to the traditional ways, and the Spring Festival begins.
 
As noted, the downtown LA Chinatown is in great flux today.  This Chinatown - created when the early 20th century population was evicted from on of their first neighborhoods where Union Station now stands and moving several times to this more northwestern block, originally Italian-ethnic - again tells a history of civic transition as the recent cycle of gentrification encompassed first the mix of contemporary art galleries alongside several generational Chinese tourist emporiums, best represented by the stores and buildings on Chung King Road.  Now, change is occurring again as the art galleries and lofts that had replaced several street level shops are themselves being replaced by a wealthier, younger even more trendy demographic that is returning to downtown LA and filling it up with architecture studios, entrepreneurs, coffee shops and all the accoutrements of today.

I spent a moment with Alex Cheung, owner of the Alex Cheung Company (est. 1971), the last emporium to remain on Chung King Road.  When Alex retires it will be over and Chinatown, albeit created intentionally as a tourist attraction in the '30s, will represent another world.  While the great temples, Thien Hau among them, as well as the Chinatown Plaza will no doubt remain, many who lived and worked here have moved on into the greater fabric of the region or moved at the least into the greater modern "chinatowns" of the San Gabriel Valley. The SGV is as well, is now the place where tourists from the Mainland go.

My annual Lunar New Year visit helps me again experience this story of our world today, and not only in the Americas, for we are in a world of change with populations fitting not always perfectly but ultimately finding themselves together, acknowledging and best, enjoying the gifts we all bring each other.  It strengthens and enriches who we are and ultimately we all become our country's "nationals," not without our own distinct history if we choose but with it plus the experiences we gain in our new lands.  That is the story of who we are and in the Chinatowns, it is vibrant every day.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!


Photographic Project Updates!

PHOTO LA 2015, SarahLeePROJECTS booth: The event in January was wonderful and busy.  I exhibited with other LA-based photographers, Aline Smithson, Ann Mitchell and Martin Cox. Sarah Lee did an impressive job of curating and installing us.
Thanks to all who came out.


Opening in New York City on 26 March at the Museum of Chinese in America WATER TO PAPER: PAINT TO SKY, the traveling retrospective of 104 year old artist, Tyrus Wong. This exhibition originated in 2013 at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.  In the Maya Lin-designed building at MOCA/NYC, I am sure  it will be terrific.  The exhibition contains 10 large prints of mine capturing Tyrus, his family and friends at the Santa Monica Beach where for the last 40+ years he has come to fly his hand-designed/made kites.

I will be there for the opening and if you are in the New York area, I recommend you make a trip. The exhibit will be up through
13 September.

Previewing at ParisPhotoLA in early May is the Metropolis Books/D.A.P. book: BOTH SIDES OF SUNSET: PHOTOGRAPHING LOS ANGELES.  I will have several images in the book of Carmageddon on the 405 from my GRIDLOCK project.  I am privileged to be among a host of master photographers included in this publication. 
Excited as well about the potential opportunity to create the first exhibit my ongoing DETROIT:DEFINITION project in Europe this coming Fall. News to follow but excited about this now!

I will photographing again in Detroit at the end of this month.  If you are there, let me know.

 
As always, my thanks to members of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Chinatown communities for extending their welcome to me as I go about the New Years.

Sara Jane Boyers, March 2015