May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and as a way to pay tribute, photographer Zabrina Deng has embraced her love for her Cantonese culture, as well as her adolescent memories of visiting San Francisco’s Chinatown, by creating a series of compelling portraits of the hard-working, but often unseen, women in her Chinatown community. Deng’s portrait project has evolved into a special exhibit titled “Portraits of Unsung Heroines: Women of Chinatown” that is currently on view now through June 12 in San Francisco.

“This series of Chinatown portraits celebrate the unsung, unseen women who make the community what it is: a thriving center where immigrants come to set their roots and where 2nd and 3rd generation Chinese come to be reminded of their roots,” says Deng, a Sony Artisan who was born in China, studied photography in Paris and is currently based out of San Francisco. She is also a destination wedding photographer and WPPI Master.

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Deng says that each woman she profiled came with a story of challenges and triumphs. With these images, she is celebrating their professional and personal successes. “As we make our way through the images, important mainstays of the neighborhood and community emerge—that of a small business owner, wife, pianist, merchant, baker, waitress, poet, fashion designer, grandma, opera singer, dancer, musician, and retiree. I photographed women from all different walks of life but with common bonds of deep roots in the Chinatown community,” she explains.

The seeds of the project began to germinate when Deng stopped getting hired by her usual destination client in 2020. “I used to cover a lot of weddings and engagement sessions, especially for overseas gigs,” she explains. “But it all dried up because of the pandemic, especially since most of my clients usually are from Asia. That’s when I started photographing local clients, and then whenever I would be in Chinatown, I got to know the merchants there. Even though everything was in lock down, there was still a small window of time each day where local businesses had limited hours of operation.”

Deng says it was fascinating to dig deeper and really get to know the personalities and work ethics behind many of the women she photographed. Take, for example, Wilma Pang, an 81-years-old who at one point ran for Mayor of San Francisco. The retired music professor from San Francisco City College is also a strong activist and advocate for the Chinatown community. She founded A Better Chinatown Tomorrow, which focuses on beautifying the neighborhood with music and performance on the streets of Chinatown.

“If you are in Chinatown on any given afternoon, chances are you will find Wilma performing Chinese opera at the park in Portsmouth Square,” says Deng. “She is a classically trained opera singer who can perform in German, Italian and Cantonese, and has been performing and teaching music for over 30 years.” Deng adds that Wilma doesn’t dress normally dress very glamorously so this was a fun opportunity for both of them—for Wilma to get glammed up with fun outfits and for Deng to provide a fun look for her. “Now Wilma also has own profile image for Facebook and can share it with friends or whatever purposes that she needs it for,” says Deng. “Or if she wants to run for mayor again, she can use the images in her campaign!”

Clara Hsu, another subject in Deng’s portrait project, is a poet, playwright, composer, actor and piano teacher. “She brings theater, art and music to kids in Chinatown and even wrote a rap song, ‘Gai Mou Sou Rap’ to assert the vitality of seniors in the community and stand firm against Asian hate and violence,” says Deng.

So far, Deng has photographed 15 women from the community. She took it upon herself to take these glamorous photos, often paying for all the clothes, hair and makeup styling out of her own funds to help give the women a feeling of self worth, confidence and power.

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Deng continues: “Asian women historically have a lot of expectation coming from our families—from our parents, from our significant others—on how we should be in that ‘Asian woman’ role. It’s suppressive in a way; that’s why it was so refreshing to discover who these women really are and that they love what they do. They’re all so passionate, and they do many things.

In a way, the women I photographed are all trying to break away from the stereotypes of Asian women, but they are also embracing their roots at the same time. I felt strongly about putting this project out there, especially with all the hate crimes spiking against the Asian community. I want everyone to get to know our culture and our people. I also wanted the larger community in San Francisco to be more intrigued by these women and by Chinatown. It’s not just for food…!”

Deng’s Women of Chinatown portrait project is currently on display at Chinatown Restaurant (yes, that’s its real name!), one of the oldest dining establishments in San Francisco’s Chinatown, and will be up until June 12. Sony helped fund the portrait project and has created this behind-the-scenes video (below). White House Custom Colors (WHCC) and their sub brand, ProDPI, are also sponsors of the exhibit.