SF man uses photography to share stories of Chinatown community

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what are two million photos worth? A history of Asian Americans in the Bay Area, for this week’s Jefferson Award winner.
Frank Jang captures real moments, then at his home office he picks the best images to share with the world on social media.
What does he want to capture in his photography?
“Just everyday life. What’s happening,” Jang said simply.
Jang has been taking photos of the Asian American community for the last 25 years.
He started in 1999. With his daughter away at college, he zoomed in on a new hobby. 
“There was nobody taking, nobody documenting any events in Chinatown or the community,” he observed.
So he took a shot at digital photography.
“I bought a 2.1 megapixel camera for $450 and I started,” he laughed.
He connected with community leaders at the Chinese Historical Society and Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco. And he began showing up with his camera at Asian American events in the Bay Area, like festivals, fundraisers and fairs.
Jang attends some 200 events a year, most of them in San Francisco Chinatown.
“I’m a Chinatown boy. I was born and raised in Chinese Hospital. I grew up in the Pings – in the (Ping Yuen) housing project. It’s time for giving back to my community,” he explained.   
He’s given back by photographing some 5,000 events so far. Two thirds of them, he’s shot for free; the rest, for donations that go back into camera equipment and transportation.
Jang’s role as community photographer has kept him busy; he was still working with his wife’s family at Man-U Imports until his retirement in 2008.
More recently, as Vice President of the Chinatown Photographic Society for last several years, he’s volunteered to take and print free portraits of senior citizens, often at On Lok and Self-Help for the Elderly.
“Just like people, ‘Why do I take so many photos of the elders?’ They’ll be gone one day and there’s no re-take,” Jang said.
Kenneth Ho, who volunteers leading tai chi for self-help, said the portrait Frank took is a precious family gift that he’ll share with the grandkids.
“You see the wrinkles, you see the dark spots, but it’s the real you, but you are beaming from it, you’re happy. Not every professional can do that,” Ho said.
Besides the 12 by 8 inch photos that filled his own Chinatown exhibit last year, Jang has packed two million photos into numerous hard drives.
One day, Jang would like to preserve his collection as history: he said both UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library and Stanford University’s Asian American Studies department have expressed interest.
And generations to come will see a portrait of a thriving Asian American community according to Tamiko Wong, past program director of AsianWeek Foundation.
“They were out there, also saying ‘Hey, we deserve to be heard. Our rights are valuable.’ What we’re doing out here is important to the community,” Wong said. “We’re not these foreigners, perpetual foreigners. We’re actually contributing, and that’s what Frank is doing. He’s actually showing a lot of us in action, doing community work, and I really appreciate that.”
And San Francisco showed its appreciation. For his 70th birthday, Mayor London Breed proclaimed a Frank Jang Day in his honor.
“At 70, I’m still having fun. I’m still doing what I love to do,” he smiled.
For framing Asian American history through his lens, this week’s Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Frank Jang.