My grandfather, Joe Shung, emigrated from China to the United States in 1929 when he was twelve years old. He grew up in Buffalo, New York before finding his way to New York City, where he attended school to become an airplane mechanic.

Following his studies, he returned to China to get married, making a stop in Los Angeles. He had a fascination with Hollywood western films and loved taking photos and documenting his own life. Wherever he traveled, he took a 35mm still camera and a 8mm movie camera. He would setup a tripod on self timer or have his friends or family photograph or film him. He was hired as an extra in a few films and was even casted for a secondary role in the 1945 Bert Gordon film ‘ How DOooo You Do!’

He had fully adopted the ‘American Way’: Kodak, Cowboys, and Coca-Cola.

After he passed, my mother inherited his archive of photographs and 8mm film footage. It’s an extensive collection that includes hundreds of color and black and white 35mm photos, slides, prints, and hours of 8mm footage, spanning from the mid 1930’s to the 1980’s; the span of time of my grandfather’s life from a young man to a father with three kids.

I became interested in his photo archive while I was studying photography at Cooper Union. During that time, I learned advance techniques in film scanning and preservation. I had the privilege of working with my mom to go through some of the photographs and footage while she was still alive. Before her untimely death from cancer in February of 2024 she asked me to continue the legacy and preserve the photographs, objects, and documents.

My goal is to be able to have high resolution digitizations of the photos and footage to be published as a photo book, biography, and/or documentary film. Not only do I see sentimental value in these images, but also cultural value depicting the life of a Chinese immigrant family in mid-twentieth century America.

I have been collecting donations and applying for grants to help fund the digitization process of this archive. Money raised will aid in the highest quality digitization, archival storage, equipment, labor, and services needed to work on this project.

There is a rich collection of moving and still imagery that I can’t wait to share with you. If this is of interest to you consider making a donation and be sure to subscribe to the newsletter below.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Thank You.

- Justin Suazo