Last week, my friend, Arthur Dong, sent me an email asking, “are you related to this person?” He was referring to a photo that was being auctioned on ebay. Arthur had accidentally stumbled upon it while doing research for another film project.
Anyway, I clicked on the link and was shocked. The caption read, “You are bidding on an original 8 x 10 Wire Photo of Detroit’s Chinatown store owner Allen Chin. Photo is dated May 27,1961 showing Allen Chin store Owner in Chinatown.” It was my dad and he was standing in the store that my great grandfather had opened in the 1930′s. Talk about a blast from the past.
My dad was born and raised in Detroit in the small Chinese community there. Our family owned and operated several businesses there including the popular Chung’s Restaurant. I had heard stories of my dad’s wild adolescence, driving from Detroit to New York on weekends, just to get good Chinese food and meet pretty young Chinese girls. But here was living proof of a time gone by. (My dad unfortunately died a few years ago.)
All sorts of questions popped into my head: first, what the hell was ebay doing with a picture of my dad and who took the photo? The back of the photo referenced the Detroit News and some editor notes. Was there an article attached to this picture and if so where was it? And were there other photos out there, other potential gaps in my memory of my dad that could be filled in?
I immediately emailed my family. We had long left Detroit and had settled in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Shanghai. But they were all just as excited as I was, but with even more questions, mostly to do with securing the photo. The photo was being auctioned with a deadline of five days and there was already one bid for $9.99. We wondered if there were other potential bidders out there? And who had already bid on a picture of our dad? Over the next twenty-four hours we traded emails, strategizing on how we could secure the photo.
We ultimately decided to go sniper, a last-minute bid just as the auction was about to close. The auction was opened until Sunday, so we spent all weekend monitoring ebay checking on the current highest bid. (I guess I can see how it could be addictive if you were a collector.) Fortunately, no other bids came in. And while we had put in a maximum bid of $300, we were able to secure the photo for $31, a total steal for a big piece of history.
After that, I did what anyone would do in this day and age, I posted the pic to facebook with a quick story of how it all happened. The response from my friends, families and former co-workers was immediate. People were astounded. But why such an outpouring of response? Was it because of the age of the photo? The randomness of life? Was it because they had lost a parent, too, and could identify with the loss?
With the picture secured, it was now time to figure out why the picture even existed in the first place. I posted up to a newsgroup that I belong to, seeking advice. My friend Kai Ma responded back by connecting me to her friend, Walter Middlebrook, the Assistant Managing Editor at the Detroit News. Walter remembered our family restaurant referring to it as “Chung’s Restaurant fame,” as he reached out to the librarian at his paper, Linda Culpepper. Linda was able to go through the digital archives and come up with the article that the photo was taken for.
Perhaps the reason my father never mentioned being in the newspaper was because the picture never made it into print. According to Linda, there was just the article, which she sent me. (It was about the demolition of old Chinatown and how the residents were being displaced.)
Anyway, we are now trying to see if there are any more photos that came with the roll. Even if nothing else comes up, it was great to have this trip down memory lane, to remember our connection to Detroit and its amazing past.
In the end, my friend Moy Eng summarized it best on facebook, “you brought him home.”
Curtis Chin is a Motown-born, New York-bred, Los Angeles-based writer, producer and community activist. He’s proud to have co-founded the Asian American Writers Workshop and Asian Pacific Americans for Progress and for writing and producing the documentary Vincent Who? He’s less proud of having started the Young Republicans Club in high school. He’s currently working on a new website with a former ABC and HBO exec, widelantern.com, and developing a teen comedy with director Quentin Lee and producer Chris Lee.
This originally appeared at You Offend Me You Offend My Family
No offense, but if there's a facebook like button, it'll be much easier for me to share.
Posted by: Elliptical reviews | November 30, 2011 at 01:08 PM
I don't normally comment on blogs, however I have to say that I rather enjoyed yours as it was in depth. I´ve bookmarked your blog and hope to explorer it further when I have a little more time. Keep up the good work.
http://www.kahlerlawfirm.com/
Posted by: Kahlerlawfirm | December 02, 2011 at 04:20 PM
Impressive blog!
-Arron
Posted by: rc helicopter | December 21, 2011 at 05:02 PM
Dong's work combines the art of the visual medium with an investigation of social issues, examining topics such as Asian American history and identity, and gay oppression.
Posted by: college scholarship | March 07, 2012 at 12:44 PM
Statistically speaking (as of October 12, 2010):There are cterrnuly 5,090 animator vs animation videos on Youtube.524 videos register under the search animator vs animation 3. One of them, Animator vs animation 3, got 3,372,796 views, was made with pivot, and the description reads: Youtube it's here!!!!!!!! animator vs animation 3.Most of the other Animator vs animation 3 s were recorded videos of Animator vs animation: the game.There is a SERIES on Youtube called Animator vs animation (pivot style).Alan, good job on the animations! I feel sorry that so many people stuck them on Youtube (many of them don't include your name
Posted by: Annalese | March 22, 2012 at 06:37 AM
hello again Alan Becker . You REALLY GREAT!!!! XD . What Progam you use to make Animator VS Animation????? . please email me at yahoo .. thats the email. and one thing smised, this movie you make only video or games Huh?
Posted by: Kendade | March 22, 2012 at 10:17 AM
- Shannon, BEAUTIFUL job! I was laughing and crniyg at the same time. No wonder they picked you! But I have to say, I am a little freaked out right now because one of the women putting on the workshop is my sister-in-law and photographer extraordinare, Davina Fear. When I saw her picture pop up, I screamed! Now I'm going to have to send her an email. )~Amy Fear
Posted by: Sabi | March 24, 2012 at 09:52 AM
Really like the blog, appreciate the share!
Posted by: Doris | April 22, 2012 at 12:48 PM