Photographer David Zheng has always been drawn to the diversity of what he considers to be the greatest city in the world—New York City. Zheng approaches the street like an archeologist, capturing its rich details through his camera lens. Much like a flaneur, or casual wander, Zheng becomes an observer and photo-journalist of sorts, reporting on the street-life of his native Lower East Side—a place he has seen rapidly change throughout the years. 

 

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he began photographing the volunteer efforts of Rethink Food, a free meal distribution project in Chinatown. His latest photo book project, titled Where did all the flowers go?, captures the human connections that he discovered in the empty streets of a once-bustling neighborhood. 

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In a dyptych, Zheng has captured two images representative of the times. While one captures a sense of desolation through the bare forms of mannequins in a shop window, the other exemplifies the sense of community brought on by the pandemic. In opposition to each other, these images create a narrative that Zheng wishes to keep open-ended.