How a Chinese Canadian Photographer Memorialized a Community

Curated by Faith Moosang

In the early 1900s, C.D. (Chow Dong) Hoy (1883–1973)—one of the earliest Chinese Canadian photographers—created extraordinary portraits that present a unique view of the diverse community of Quesnel, British Columbia, a town where Indigenous people, Chinese immigrants, and European settlers formed a cross-cultural community. In an era of significant systemic racism and cultural marginalization, the idea that people from diverse backgrounds showed up at Hoy’s studio to be photographed and celebrate their own existence is a powerful statement. Today, Hoy’s work offers all of us a glimpse into a small frontier town and the many people who, just by being photographed, shift our conceptions of the past. The hope of course is that there is a similar shift in our collective vision of the future.