Superbloom 5

As a multigenerational Chinese American born and raised in California, with ancestors who came during the 1850s Gold Rush and helped build the Transcontinental Railroad, the California poppy has been ever-present in Alan Chin's life. Growing up in the Bay Area, the Briones Regional Park hills near his childhood home would transform into seas of poppies and wildflowers each spring.

Alan Chin was drawn to the mythology surrounding California's landscape, frequently visiting the Oakland Museum's collection that chronicled the state's history from Indigenous times through the Arts and Crafts movement to Dorothea Lange's Dust Bowl photographs. These influences shaped his understanding of the poppy's layered significance.

What struck Alan was the contradiction: picking these flowers was illegal, yet they grew abundantly among the "weeds." Unable to pick them, he and his partner began photographing poppies across different environments, from national parks to urban gardens. For Alan Chin, the poppy is a deeply personal symbol tied to cultural heritage, survival, and transformation. Indigenous communities have long used poppies for food and medicine. The flower's calming effect and vibrant, sunset-colored bloom evoke both beauty and resilience, creating a bridge between personal memory, collective history, and nature's enduring power.