American Photography 39 Winners

Gold Mountain

Paia Chinese Cemetery, Hawaii. Gold Mountain. February 2022. The Pacific Ocean as seen from the Pā'ia Chinese Cemetery in Pā'ia, Maui, Hawaii. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigrants from around the world (including China) once flocked to Maui to harvest and process sugarcane for the island's booming sugar industry. "Gold Mountain" traces the darkest parts of Chinese-American history: the American West of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following the most harrowing routes laid by Chinese immigrant laborers, the project explores racial violence, ethnic cleansing, and socio-political exclusion.

Gold Mountain

Paia Chinese Cemetery, Hawaii. Gold Mountain. February 2022. A tombstone with the Chinese characters for "anonymous" at the Pā'ia Chinese Cemetery in Pā'ia, Maui, Hawaii. Many Chinese immigrant laborers who came to the U.S. died nameless without ever returning to their native land. "Gold Mountain" traces the darkest parts of Chinese-American history: the American West of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following the most harrowing routes laid by Chinese immigrant laborers, the project explores racial violence, ethnic cleansing, and socio-political exclusion.