Restaurant Series
2001-2003
Nine 17.5” x 25” Lightjet chromogenic prints

In Restaurant Series, I aim to document curious individuals wanting to experience a cultural environment that is different from their own. Each photographed restaurant is enthusiastically supported by the members of a specific ethnic community – an Indian vegetarian restaurant in Little India, a Korean tofu restaurant in Koreatown, a Chinese dim-sum restaurant in Monterey Park, etc. These restaurants serve the food of their respective cultural communities made from authentic recipes. Consequently, it is rare to see an outsider eating in these neighborhood restaurants.

Each photograph in the series depicts people eating and relaxing inside a restaurant. Almost all of the customers belong to one specific ethnic group, except one person. This individual is conspicuous in the scene simply because he/she is visually different from the majority of the people in the restaurant. Restaurant Series serves as a salute to the diverse communities in this region, as well as to the lonesome and adventurous individuals willing to wonder into alien eating environments that the Los Angeles expanse has to offer.