Samuel Willinger

Chinatown has given me so much that I felt the need to try to give back in some way. Having been and continuing to be a part of the community since early 2018, my hope is that this project will offer some insight into the experience and every day struggles of this community.

Grappling with the serious implications of the story that I was trying to tell and my ability to tell it, it became obvious that perhaps it may have not been my place to tell this story in the first place. Given my reservations about my individual perspective, this led to even more self-doubt and eventually almost dropping the project entirely. The realization that dropping the project would be an even bigger betrayal of the trust that was being placed upon me would only serve as additional motivation to tell the story as best as I can and hopefully provide some insight and perspective.

It was only when I was challenged by a colleague and told that I had her support in doing this work that I realized the central figure in all of the themes was myself. Speaking with the people, taking their photos and developing relationships with them led to the greater understanding and allowed me to tell a small part of their story. In order to frame the work properly it was essential that I was not just telling a story but building real relationships in the process.