Lau Pok Chi
Pok Chi Lau is a documentary photographer born in British Hong Kong in 1950. He left for America in 1969 and studied at the Brooks Institute of Photography majoring in Industrial and Scientific Photography (75’ BPA) and the California Institute of the Arts (77’MFA). His teaching career in photography began at the University of Kansas in 1977 and is an Emeritus Professor since 2013. His social documentary photography work over 5 decades engages historical and anthropological contexts focusing on the Chinese Diaspora in the Americas, China, Cuba, Malaysia, Myanmar, West Africa, and currently Vietnam.
As a member of the Overseas Chinese, Pok Chi Lau benefits from the convenience of observing and documenting this society from an internal and unique perspective, one that is neither western or local, objective and detailed at a cellular level. Never confined to one place, Lau attempts to reach many parts of the world where Chinese communities can be found. The focus is always on the soon-to-disappear trails of life, grand or trivial: one-room homes, private living quarters, kitchens, cluttered surroundings, wall hangings, objects on shelves and in refrigerators; details reflecting the living conditions, political and religious believes or the lack thereof, dreams and aspirations, ancestry and identity, traditions and new values. His subjects’s postures and expressive gaze often suggest the state of their complex psyche surviving in the new world.
Lau has had over 60 one-person exhibitions, 90 group exhibitions world wide and in collections of many institutions. He has published 7 books, many online reviews on the topic of world-wide Chinese diaspora in China.
Professional Background
1969
Emigrated from Hong Kong to Canada, apprenticed under commercial photographer Barry Ashley in Toronto.
1970
Relocated to Halifax, Canada; worked as a kitchen assistant in a restaurant, marking his first immersion in an overseas Chinese community.
1971
Enrolled at Brooks Institute of Photography in California, USA, specializing in industrial and scientific photography.
1973
Conducted his first documentary project in Mexico. Concurrently researched the authentic conditions of San Francisco's Chinatown.
1975
Pursued an MFA at California Institute of the Arts. Documented the border town of Tijuana (Mexico) and Camp Pendleton's Vietnamese refugee camp.
1976
Initiated a social documentary project on Chinese immigrants, capturing scenes in San Francisco and Vancouver's Chinatowns.
1977
Appointed Assistant Professor in Design at the University of Kansas School of Fine Arts. Continued photographic work in Pittsburgh, New York, and Talladega's Chinatowns.
1980
First return to Hong Kong after a decade; photographed ancestral halls in Taishan, Guangzhou, and surrounding regions, documenting southern China's transformation.
1984-1985
Promoted to Associate Professor at the University of Kansas. Visited 14 countries to document overseas Chinese communities.
1994-1995
Traveled to 13 countries to study global Chinese diaspora. Continued chronicling industrialization and migration in Shenzhen and Dongguan.
1997
Documented Hong Kong's handover to China through portraits and scenes.
2000
Launched a portrait series on multiracial individuals reflecting U.S. societal changes. Our Quarter Century exhibited at University of Arizona's Center for Creative Photography; Gold Mountain Revisited series shown in France. Published photobook Gold Mountain Revisited.
2002
Received University of Kansas' Excellence in Teaching Award.
2008
Jan: Fluid·China – Pok Chi Lau Solo Exhibition (Guangdong Museum of Art). Mar: Imprint & Phenomena: Legacy of Contemporary China (Houston FotoFest).
2009-2019
Five Cuba trips for Chinese in Cuba series. Collaborated with White Cantonese opera performer Caridad Amaran (何秋蘭) and mixed-heritage artist Marta María Pérez (黃美玉) for performances in Hong Kong/Guangdong. Traced Amaran's roots to Kaiping. Researched 19th-century Chinese laborers in Cuba.
2017
Floating Genes: Migration Stories (Rong Space, Vancouver). Heterogeneous Visions: Guangzhou Image Triennial (Guangdong Museum of Art).
2018
Chinese in Cuba solo exhibitions (Kaiping Cangdong Village/Shenzhen He Xiangning Art Museum).
2019
Documented SF Bay Area's 2nd/3rd-gen Chinese. Chinese in Cuba (Taishan Museum). Dec: Migration: Pok Chi Lau’s Chinese Diaspora Photography (Shenzhen Youren Historical Image Museum).
2021
Crossing Mountains & Seas: Burmese Chinese Culture (Pan-SEA Triennial).
2022
Imagining Ancestors project in Togo. Migrants Through Migrants' Eyes (Shanghai Rockbund Art Museum). Published Chinese in Cuba (Nanjing University Press).
2023
Currents: Taiwan-Africa Contemporary Photography (Tainan Art Museum).
2025
Commenced Chinese in Vietnam project.