Fashion portraits in San Francisco’s Chinatown

What we thought would be a nice, sunny evening in San Francisco’s Chinatown (as per the heat wave that had lasted all weekend) turned into a classic San Francisco summer’s day: cold, foggy, windy, and generally unpleasant. Luckily, our professional model, Dillan Nuqui Donaire (@deauxnaire), who came up from L.A., braved the cold and brought his amazing modeling skills to the table.

Featured in The Portrait Project Magazine, this editorial photo story inspired by Asian street fashion was shot at the interval between sunset and nightfall, when the twinkling city lights are about to come on, creating a sense of mystery and possibility in the alleys of San Francisco's Chinatown.

Since SF’s Chinatown is also the birthplace of Bruce Lee, we decided to feature him in some of our photos, as we wanted to incorporate Chinatown and its history through our lens. Situated between the Pacific and downtown, its secret alleyways transport its visitors a different world—or rather, a fold between two worlds: East and West, ancient and modern. In light of this special fascination that Chinatown holds over us, we wanted to create a series of photographs that embody this liminal quality.

As I fondly remember searching for magical objects in the many shops and nooks and crannies, where I once bought a black jade dragon amulet (because I had had a significant dream about a dragon), this shot featuring one of the many beautiful graffiti is a personal favorite of mine!

If you are a model or a stylist interested in collaborating on editorial or commercial projects, we (myself and my makeup artist, Red Lipstick Makeup) would love to hear from you!