Sean Chee Photography

Sean Chee Photography https://www.cheesean.com/

What was it like growing up in a Latino Asian household? So my parents are divorced. I lived with my mom most of the tim...
05/28/2026

What was it like growing up in a Latino Asian household?

So my parents are divorced. I lived with my mom most of the time, but I would always see my dad since he also lives 5 minutes away in Bayside. They got divorced when I was 4, 5.

People always assumed I was Latina. That was kind of a give or take. Maybe they’ll get the country wrong, but that’s about it. I was definitely a “no sabo” kid. I was very stubborn about learning any kind of language. I did not see the purpose in it, so I would never really speak Chinese to my grandparents. I would never answer my mom back in Spanish. It wasn’t until I was older and I realized how bad my Spanish was that I actually put effort into speaking it and having it be a part of my daily interactions with my mom.

I used to do Spanish singing shows growing up, which is ironic because I didn’t really speak that much. I did shows called “La Voz Kids” and “La Banda”. And it’s crazy because my Spanish was so bad. My mom would make it a thing where she would ignore me unless I answered her back in Spanish. Eventually it stuck to me more.

It was cool because, it sucks to say, it was always a lot easier to immerse myself in my Latino culture. On the surface, it was what people picked up on very fast.

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How different were your interactions with your family back in China to the times that you went to Ecuador?

The music’s definitely different. When I celebrate with my Chinese side of the family, there’s no music. It’s crazy to think. It’s just like a lot of food and talking. But with my Ecuadorian family, it’s the complete opposite. The food has to be somewhere else, because you have to make room to be able to dance and party. It’s very different in the way that we celebrate things.

Interaction wise, both are just very respectful and have a sense of filial piety. You respect your elders no matter what. Both cultures are very family oriented, with big gatherings. Nothing is ever hollow. Both great food.

Subject: .jim 🇨🇳🇪🇨
Photos: R5 w/ Canon RF 24-70 F/2.8 Lens📸

My name is Abby Jim. My pronouns are she/her, and I am Chinese and Ecuadorian.——There’s American, there’s Asian, and the...
05/25/2026

My name is Abby Jim. My pronouns are she/her, and I am Chinese and Ecuadorian.

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There’s American, there’s Asian, and there’s being Latino. Can you tell me more about when you started to realize you were different in regards to identity vs other folks?

I’ve always felt very culturally close to Latin and Chinese. I don’t speak Chinese the way I probably should be able to, or even close to how I speak Spanish. But culturally, I never felt disconnected to either.

I grew up in Catholic school, for elementary and middle school, and I remember being such an obnoxious kid. I’d force my class to celebrate Chinese New Year. I’d come in with a “cheongsam” over my uniform and I would bring in my grandpa’s drawings that had a phoenix or a dragon. I would bring that in as decoration, along with the lion dance puppet. I was really obnoxious about it, but I was very proud. I always had something to relate to, whether it was because of my Latin or Chinese heritage.

I love the idea of being connected to my ancestry and my lineage. I’m very, I guess spiritual, in the sense where I genuinely believe there are aspects of my life that are being watched over on both sides. I like to pay homage and I think that’s more of a Chinese thing.

There’s the grave sweeping holiday that happens in April. That was always the thing that we would do with my grandparents. We burned the money, burned the gold, all of that. With that practice, I feel there’s always been a reverence, a respect for my roots.

My families in Ecuador and China - they’ve always treated me with the utmost kindness, so welcoming. It’s the “give you the shirt off the back” type. I never felt like I was visiting as an outsider. It was more like an open arm policy. They never saw me as less Latina or less Chinese. That never came up in conversation.

Subject: .jim 🇨🇳🇪🇨
Photos: R5 w/ Canon RF 24-70 F/2.8 Lens📸

Do you have a fond memory that reminds you of who you are?It’s not so much about reminding me of who I am, & it’s not ev...
05/22/2026

Do you have a fond memory that reminds you of who you are?

It’s not so much about reminding me of who I am, & it’s not even a clear or distinct memory. One nice thing I hold onto is seeing old photos of both sides of my family being present at gatherings. It doesn’t really happen much now that everyone is so spread out, but there are albums of photos where both sides of my family would be together at the same gathering. Sometimes it was everyone crammed into one of our small homes, other times it was a neighborhood barbeque on the FDR drive, but seeing photos of the big gatherings is always a heartwarming feeling. Seeing everyone mixing together like that was so nice, even when everyone didn’t know each other as well or were dealing with varying levels of comfort & familiarity. It’s like a perfect snapshot moment that makes me think—“Wow, okay, this is actually my family & it’s a very unique one”. It’s harder & harder to get everybody in one place these days but I’ll always cherish any gathering we can get.

Are you proud of being Puerto Rican Chinese?

100%. But it wasn’t always that way.

As a kid, it was almost something to be ashamed of, because it meant not fitting in with others. It made me different from everyone else & while I didn’t resent it, I definitely was aware of it. But as you grow up, you start to recognize that your differences are what actually make you special. It makes you unique, distinct, interesting, & all of those differences are the things we celebrate & champion.

So yes, I’m extremely proud of my background. It’s not without nuance—I am certainly not the most Chinese nor the most Puerto Rican person around. I did not have the experience of growing up fully in either one, & I’ve struggled with the question of “do I even have a right to be proud?”

Of course, the answer is yes. You should be proud of your heritage. It’s not a competition of “how much” you are of anything. My heritage is my own, & my experiences, however “authentic” or “traditional” they were or weren’t, shaped & influenced the me I’ve become today.

Subject: 🇨🇳🇵🇷
Photos: R5 w/ 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens📸

05/21/2026

Another day in NYC as a photographer, husband, and handball player. Yeah, I think that makes sense… I was also glad I avoided the massive thunderstorm that happened right after all this.

My name is Justin Choy. Pronouns are he/him, and my ethnic identity is Chinese/Puerto Rican.Where were you born and rais...
05/19/2026

My name is Justin Choy. Pronouns are he/him, and my ethnic identity is Chinese/Puerto Rican.

Where were you born and raised and how was growing up for you there? Feel free to expand wherever you’d like as well.

I was born and raised in New York City - born in Manhattan, raised in Brooklyn. It was an almost suburban, tucked away corner of Brooklyn called Bergen Beach. I also spent a lot of time in the Lower East Side. My grandparents live there, as do many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I also attended church there, so the neighborhood is really like a second home to me.
Life growing up in Bergen Beach wasn’t particularly known for being diverse. As a mixed-race child, it was a little tricky to navigate that in school. The neighborhood is predominantly white and not very tolerant of diversity.
There was a lot of making fun of and picking on kids who were of different races. I think at the time, being the 90’s, it was probably a little more common than it is today. I can’t speak to today’s school experience firsthand, but it does feel like a lot of that has toned down over the years. Back then, from elementary to middle school, that kind of social ostracization felt like kind of the norm.

One of the unique challenges about being of mixed race is that the common language at home becomes English. My dad speaks Chinese, my mom speaks Spanish, and they don’t speak each other’s language. So English is the default. As a result, my own language skills are…not strong, or even non-existent, if we’re being really honest about my Cantonese…

So to sum it all up—growing up for me was juggling the feelings of wanting to fit in with kids at school, and being a little confused about my own ethnocultural background. I didn’t have a fully-formed identity and didn’t really try to learn more about my cultures either. A lot of that came later, but as a kid, it’s not really what you’re focusing on.

Subject: 🇨🇳🇵🇷
Photos: R5 w/ 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens📸

Can you tell me more when you started to realize you were different in regards to identity vs other folks?Growing up we ...
05/18/2026

Can you tell me more when you started to realize you were different in regards to identity vs other folks?

Growing up we would always speak Spanish, so I speak Spanish fluently. My mom & dad would always grill us to speak Spanish in the house. I would go to Peru for 3 months almost every summer. As a kid, I would always call it “Planeta Perú” like another planet because it was a whole different lifestyle & world. Everything was accessible with all the families & their houses were like literally in the backyard. If you want to go to your aunt’s house, she’s literally a walk away. In Florida, you would need a car. I love how connected we were. I spoke a lot of Spanish there, took care of my grandparents, & learned a lot more about the Peruvian side of me.

Florida is always the meeting point for big family reunions. My uncle would have them on the weekends. It’d be loud ass music & as a kid… like the Bad Bunny reference with the kid on the chair sleeping. I know that feeling because that’s literally been me. The music blaring in your ears & you’re sleeping. Your parents are having fun & you’re just tired.

That’s something that also ties into the music I listen to now. It’s a lot of ballads, Luis Miguel, Alejandro Sanz. Growing up, my mom would put it on the radio when she dropped me off at school. Anytime I feel anxious or like I need to be grounded again, I refer to that. It really transports me back into that moment of waking up at f**kin’ 12pm, smelling Fabuloso, & hearing the music playing in the radio on that Saturday. Like, wow, this is it.

There are songs that trigger those memories. That’s why I feel a lot more connected to my Hispanic side than my Chinese side. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I don’t know how to speak Cantonese. My dad does. My dad speaks Cantonese, Spanish & English. He’s from Canton. He moved to Peru at a young age, which is a common thing actually. Peru’s the 2nd largest Asian population in South America. I would have loved to learn how to speak Cantonese, but that was never something we did growing up.

Subject: 🇨🇳🇵🇪
Photos: R5 w/ 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens📸

Here’s the first post of my photo project for AAPIHM - The Asiático Latino Americano Photo Project. More on the back sto...
05/16/2026

Here’s the first post of my photo project for AAPIHM - The Asiático Latino Americano Photo Project. More on the back story of it later but for now…

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What is your name, pronouns, and what’s your identity?

My name is Nick Llanton. I go by he/him, and I am Chinese and Peruvian.

——

Where were you born and raised and how was growing up for you there?

I was born and raised in Florida, specifically Coral Springs, Florida, closest major city would be Fort Lauderdale. I grew up down there, it was very tranquil and home for 25 years.

I think after 25 years, it was time to kind of branch out. I’ve always been like a city person, so I wanted something like New York City. And when I visited my older brother here, it kind of provided that sort of dream to eventually live here.

My neighborhood was predominantly white. There were a lot of Hispanics, but not many Asians. Like, I can count on one hand how many Asians were in my school. It wasn’t until I went to college where I really got closer to my Asian side because there were so many Asian organizations. I was in the Filipino Student Association and I really enjoyed getting to know more about that culture through the food, people and we would throw really great parties. So it was a great way to get close and meet people.

——

Do you have a fond memory that reminds you of who you are?

I have a playlist that’s like, all salsa. I would play it now at family reunions when I’m with my aunts and uncles whenever I visit Peru or home. They’d say “Oh, I remember this song during the dances from our teenage years”. They’d ask me, ”Oh, is this your playlist?” And I would say, “Yes, this is mine.”

It kind of allows them to have that nostalgia of when they heard those songs when they were in high school growing up. That was really cool. It allows me to reconnect with the music that they used to listen to as kids, and also that I used to hear when I was a kid too.

Subject: 🇨🇳🇵🇪
Photos: R5 w/ 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens📸

For my final Chinese New Year post, I just had to dedicate it to the fam. My intention in Chinatown that day wasn’t to...
03/02/2026

For my final Chinese New Year post, I just had to dedicate it to the fam. My intention in Chinatown that day wasn’t to capture this particular performance by to WOW, but word on the street was that it was happening, so I stuck around and decided to really tell a story through this series of photos.

WOW has brought lots of love, community, and strength over 100 years of being in NYC’s Chinatown. I was able to experience part of that through knowing . She’s allowed me to enter their space and to basically do me what I do best as a photographer. And their space always feels safe and familial to me. It’s always a little family reunion, especially during this time of year there.

These photos are some of my more prouder ones that I’ve taken over the years. I’m showcasing them in this format on socials for now, but maybe something more down the line.

Once more, Happy Chinese New Year, and see y’all same time next year.

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