For Yunfei, the immigrant experience holds great weight due to the increase in anti-Asian sentiments and violence in San Francisco and throughout the US, during and since the Covid lockdowns. “I am particularly sensitive to it because I was born and raised in Wuhan, so understanding the origins of the animosity and xenophobia became crucial for me,” he tells us. Hence, he decided to dive into the Chinese diaspora and learn how the patterns of migration have impacted his current experience, stereotypes and racism faced – from the first wave during the California Gold Rush of the late 1840s to the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that forbade labourers, and post war migration. But, for the photographer, learning about these events doesn’t come close to his experience of acting out this lineage of migration, giving him a greater sense of belonging in both San Francisco and the wider Asian American community.

After an extensive period of research, Yunfei began immersing himself in any and all materials related to Chinese American history and San Francisco’s Chinatown, before selecting which pivotal moments would guide the series. “Over two months, I frequented Chinatown to scout locations, before crafting compositions and sketches that would inform costumes and props sourced from Los Angeles,” he tells us. “Shooting progressed smoothly,” with an average of two images taken per week, at night, while shops were closed and it resembled an (ahem) ghost town. Yunfei’s assistant would act as a stand-in model, while the photographer would set up lighting, composition and the overall scene, and just before the shutter is pressed, they’d switch roles and the photographer would become the character.