The Family Downstairs on Hyde Street

1981

While renting an apartment on Hyde Street in San Francisco in 1981, I became friendly with my landlord’s family who lived downstairs. They were a multi-generational family that had immigrated from China. The father, mother, their three sons, their daughter and the grandmother all shared a two bedroom apartment. I often saw the grandmother and granddaughter of the family in the communal backyard garden. I asked if I could photograph them, and soon they began inviting me to their apartment for family gatherings, celebrations and daily routines. I formed a close bond with the Grandmother, who stayed home with the kids and tended to household chores. Though we did not share a common language, we learned to communicate through gestures and facial expressions. She became the central figure of the series. I continued to photograph the family for eight months, often sharing the silver gelatin photographs that I printed myself in the darkroom.