Vince Tsai Photography

Vince Tsai Photography Creator, storyteller, organizer | Washington Heights

LES shot on Fujifilm 200
05/27/2026

LES shot on Fujifilm 200

Harlem, Kodak 200
05/26/2026

Harlem, Kodak 200

Bay Ridge, Nakba Day 2026. Shot on Fujifilm 400
05/25/2026

Bay Ridge, Nakba Day 2026. Shot on Fujifilm 400

Chinatown, shot on Fujifilm 400
05/23/2026

Chinatown, shot on Fujifilm 400

Shooting on film again. LES, Chinatown, Bay Ridge, and Harlem
05/23/2026

Shooting on film again. LES, Chinatown, Bay Ridge, and Harlem

Martha Cooper's "Streetwise" opening at a retrospective of her work and highlights from her documentation of the Bronx'...
04/11/2026

Martha Cooper's "Streetwise" opening at a retrospective of her work and highlights from her documentation of the Bronx's early days of hip hop.

Happy trans day of visibility 🏳️‍⚧️ all our liberation is tied together1-5: Trans Day of Action. NYC, 20186-8: NYC Pride...
03/31/2026

Happy trans day of visibility 🏳️‍⚧️ all our liberation is tied together
1-5: Trans Day of Action. NYC, 2018
6-8: NYC Pride 2018

Check out my latest photo essay, Extractive Photography: When Images Steal and Plunder, at the link in bio.We all know e...
03/03/2026

Check out my latest photo essay, Extractive Photography: When Images Steal and Plunder, at the link in bio.

We all know exploitative photography — when a photographer uses subjects in vulnerable conditions for their own credentials like photographing unhoused people without their consent or capturing moments that don’t accurately reflect the reality or anything by Bruce Gilden. (If you want to see an incredibly vile form of this photography, don’t look up Chris Arnade, a Wall Street trader who bribed s*x workers with drugs to take their photos).

But extractive photography takes it a step further. It steals more than just the aesthetics of the subject. It uses photography to tell a specific narrative to then physically extract something from a place (the land, labor, or resources) once the photos have served their purpose. The industry of journalism and photography uses imagery for extractive means, whether or not it was the photographer’s intention. Most of the time, these photographers aren’t acting as individuals, they are a part of a larger institution that amplifies their photography. Editors choose the narrative fueled by a publication’s drive for profits and inflamed by a culture that rewards clickbait. It’s the underlying nature of living within a capitalist system.

Wartime photography in particular is an especially insidious form of extractive photography. At some level, it’s important that political crises are documented. These images piece together various perspectives of political upheaval and can expose realities unfamiliar to many people. On another level, these photographs have almost always been used to tell an imperialist narrative and distort the truth, or at a minimum erase the context. Washington uses the New York Times, WaPo, and Fox News to beat the drums of war.

Read more at the link in bio

A (late) recap of some of my photos from 2025. This year was a focus on being more intentional with my photography, and ...
02/09/2026

A (late) recap of some of my photos from 2025. This year was a focus on being more intentional with my photography, and an exploration of my style and my voice.
1-3: African American Day Parade. Harlem, NY
4: Mahmoud Khalil returns home. New York, NY
5: Inauguration Day protest. New York, NY
6: What a Doll Wants Ball. Brooklyn, NY
7: Little Palestine, New Jersey
8: Jamel Shabazz exhibition at Bronx Documentary Center. Bronx, NY
9: Mother of Saniyah Cheatham at the precinct. Bronx, NY
10: Washing Heights immigrants rights rally. New York, NY

Day 2 of the strike at Mt Sinai. Greedy execs: pay your nurses now! Join a picket line and show your support www.nysna....
01/13/2026

Day 2 of the strike at Mt Sinai. Greedy execs: pay your nurses now! Join a picket line and show your support www.nysna.org/strike

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