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Chinatown Time Travel USA photostream gives glimpse into neighborhood life

 

In terms of pure visuals, the Chinatown Time Travel USA photostream on flickr offers a captivating array of photographs and postcards that document these neighborhoods.

Many of the more than 500 images are from San Francisco and Los Angeles.

For those familiar with the Chinese in America, the visuals can jog memories, prompt nods of recognition and spur questions.

For those who aren’t as familiar but are interested in these neighborhoods, the images make for a starting point to seek out narratives to give context.

The other day, my cousin Julie forwarded a link for the photostream’s slideshow after she heard about it from her relative.

Through back-and-forth emails, my relatives and I talked about the pictures and the importance of context – particularly with time, place, people and historical moment.

There is information, including location and the photographer’s name, for many of these images. Just click on the “show info” button on the slideshow.

But the photostream differs a bit than if a historian or writer sat down and categorized these images for a chronology with detailed text.

This is, though, content generated for a photo-sharing site by people, some of whom are ordinary individuals.

And it’s free.

By itself, the photostream works for me.

 

 

I’ve always liked chipped, old Chinatown signs – both in English and Chinese – as well as upturned eaves, restaurant scenes and slices of daily life in these neighborhoods.

This photostream, though, reveals to a degree some of the tension between content-sharing sites that encourage people to post what they have and using copyright-protected material without permission.

One image in the photostream is of Chinese idols at a temple and has an 1887 copyright belonging to I.W. Taber.

That might be difficult to track down the Taber family or the company that published the picture.

But the stunning black-and-white photograph of a man passing by fish, which was taken by Dave Glass in 1970, merited an email to him to ask for permission.

His image is nearly 40 years old. It’s pretty unique. I appreciate that he gave me approval to use his work.

On flickr, he goes by Dizzy Atmosphere.

Leland Wong’s photograph of the Grandview Theatre in San Francisco also captures a memorable moment. See his fantastic fine art photography on flickr or at his site.

In other cases, I look for images in which the creators subscribe to the Creative Commons agreement.

At the very least with flickr images, I give credit and link back to the person’s page on the photo-sharing Web site.

It is interesting to note, too, how conversations that we once had in person have migrated online or to Twitter.

In general, I’m fine with that. But it is nice to see a person’s face and stand in the same room when you have a conversation.

Recently, I went to an opening for artist Roger Shimomura at The Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle.

One benefit of doing so was that if I had a question, I could ask, in person, why he created a piece the way he did.

Also, a curator helped coordinate the show, which had explanations posted next to his work.

I know, though, it can be difficult to be at different places all the time.

On that note, have a look at the entire Chinatown photostream if you have time.

If you have photographs, feel free to post them – check for the copyright, though.

ChinatownCharlie, a group administrator, appreciates additions and says the collection mainly focuses on photographs from the mid-1800s to the 1970s.

Overall, I like the idea of the photostream. It’s accessible.

Collectively, it hosts a wide range of images from throughout the country for broad viewing.

I’ve looked at many of the images and tried to associate them with my family’s history.

Or what I’ve seen in Chinatowns in San Francisco, Oakland, Calif., New York City and Washington, D.C.

Or what I’ve experienced in the alleys and streets of bustling cities and quieter towns in China.

Here are some of the other images that caught my attention in the stream: 

 

 

 

 

Here are links to the flickr photostreams for billiken2008 and chinatowncharlie2.

For greater context, there are many historians who have written about Chinatowns.

They include Judy Yung, a former professor, Bill Wong, my uncle, and Peter Kwong.

Him Mark Lai, who passed away in May, also made his mark as a chronicler of Chinese American history.

Sucheng Chan has authored several books. John Jung has written a book about Chinese in the Mississippi Delta.

In Seattle, Ron Chew is knowledgeable about life in the International District.

In this post about the newly-expanded Museum of Chinese in America, I include links to other Chinese American history groups.

And of course, thanks to my cousin, Julie, and the photographers on flickr for sharing.