‘The Lams of Ludlow Street’ is a long-term photographic portrait of a single Chinese American family living in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Over more than two decades, Thomas Holton has used the work to move beyond stereotype and build a deeper understanding of family, identity and belonging.

Growing up in New York City, Holton saw Chinatown repeatedly reduced to a tourist destination and a set of familiar images. Although he never lived there himself, his grandparents did, and he knew the neighbourhood held far more than the version found in travel brochures and postcards.

When he began the project, Holton wanted to get beyond Chinatown’s street scenes and experience more of its daily life behind closed doors. He has photographed the Lam family regularly since 2003, and over time the work has become something much larger than a single documentary series.

‘The Lams of Ludlow Street’ is also bound up with Holton’s own questions about heritage, family and belonging. While the project could never resolve what it means to be fully Chinese, it opened up another kind of understanding, rooted in closeness, empathy and the everyday life of one family. The result is both a portrait of the Lams and a lifelong reflection on love, family and connection.

Artist Bio

Thomas Holton is a photographer and educator based in New York City. He received a BA from Kenyon College and an MFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts. His ongoing project ‘The Lams of Ludlow Street’ has documented the life of a single Chinese American family in Manhattan’s Chinatown over more than twenty years.

The project was published as a monograph in 2016 by Kehrer Verlag and has been exhibited in the United States and internationally, including at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of the City of New York, the New York Public Library and Baxter Street Camera Club of New York. His work has also been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Aperture and The Guardian.