This photo appeared in Chang’s photo essay “Jet Lag.” The condensation trails left by departing planes represent the constant state of motion New York seems to be in. In such a busy city, people never spend their time doing nothing, with every second bringing a new assignment, responsibility, fun activity, and insightful production. The maze of paths the trails make capture the confusion and loss of direction many New Yorkers feel. When in such a rush, there is a tendency for one to develop tunnel vision, constantly moving towards ones goal with only that in mind. When it is time to look up, it can be very disorienting. However, the city always moves, never giving that much-needed moment of respite, however brief.

Part of Chang’s unfinished work “Chinatown,” in which he documents the lives of illegal Fujian immigrants smuggled into New York, this photo illustrates the longing many immigrants have for the lives they left behind. For anyone outside alien moving to New York, the key to surviving in the city is to embrace the cold steel and hard asphalt with open arms. In order to do that, however, one must first drop drop everything they were carrying with them, be it old mannerisms, traditions, or, in the case of the subject, family. In the case of immigrants from impoverished regions, the plight is much more dire. Illegal immigrants in New York are usually treated like slaves by those they work for and forced to live in a squalor not much better than the squalor they left. Still, it is an improvement, and even more so, a way to provide for their families back home. This photo serves to give insight into the hidden lives of illegal immigrants, and give outside observers a more humanizing and compassionate view of them.