This past year, Asian American Arts Alliance partnered with photographer Mengwen Cao to offer free portrait photography for queer and trans AAPI artists in our community with the hope that these images could help embody their spirits and usher in the next phase of their career.

In September, the nine selected artists met at Mai House Studio in Chinatown. We spoke to Mengwen about their process during the shoot and share some of the moments they captured, along with messages each of the artists hope to share with their community.