David Zheng , New York City, NY.
David Zheng (b. 1985) is a photographer based in New York City. Working primarily with silver gelatin prints, his practice examines constructed environments and the quiet tension between space, form, and human presence. Rather than narrative or direct representation, his images gravitate toward abstraction, using structure, light, and restraint to suggest relationships rather than describe them.
Rooted in analog photographic processes, Zheng’s work is shaped by an interest in materiality and the balance between chance and control. The physical qualities of photographic materials does not perform as a means to an end, but inseparable from questions of presence and time, allowing relationships to emerge without narrative.
The work centers presence over conclusion, inviting sustained attention to material and time as a shared, unfolding experience.
His photographs and artist books are held in private collections throughout the United States, as well as in institutional collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, and the Center for Book Arts.
Zheng works out of his darkroom in Brooklyn, New York.
Contact
Email: studio@davidzhengstudio.com
Born 1985, New York City, New York
Works in Brooklyn, New York
Books
2025 Juicy, David Zheng Studio
2024 Flutter, David Zheng Studio
2022 Some Chinatown Portraits, David Zheng Studio
2021 Where Did All the Flowers Go?, David Zheng Studio
2019 Reveries, David Zheng Studio
Selected Exhibitions
2025 Juicy (solo), Brooklyn Navy Yard (NY)
Flutter (solo), Eight Wall Gallery. (NY)
2024 Eastern Standard, Armature Projects, Fort Street Studio. (NY)
2023 New Futures, The Other Art Fair presented by Saatchi Art, Brooklyn
2022 The Oneness of Humanity curated by Darius Himes, Der Greif
Through the Looking Glass, Brooklyn Film Camera. (NY)
I’m From curated by Joshua Rosenblatt, Local Project Gallery, Long Island City Artists Inc. (NY)
Edge of Glory (solo), Smokey Vale, (NY)
Some Chinatown Portraits (solo), Yu and Me Books, (NY)
Some Chinatown Portraits, Permanent public mural at New York Public Library (NY)
2021 Where Did All the Flowers Go? (solo), 55 Chrystie Street, (NY)
Souls of NYC Chinatown, New York Arts Center, (NY)
A Moment Materialized, Brooklyn Navy Yard (NY)
Reflections of Chinatown, multimedia installation at Illumination NYC Light Art Festival, (NY)
2020 Chinatown Untitled, Smokey Vale, (NY)
2019 MFR19 Festival, Month of Photography Rome, Millepiani Exhibition Space,(IT)
2018 Endless Editions Biennial, Elizabeth Foundation For the Arts, (NY)
Publication in Collections
2022 “Some Chinatown Portraits”, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library Special Collections
2022 “Some Chinatown Portraits”, New York Public Library, Heritage Collection
2018 “Reveries”, Center For Book Arts, Fine Art Collection
Awards and Grants
2023 New Futures Brooklyn 2023, The Other Art Fair, Saatchi Art
2022 Corky Lee Image of Hope Award, New York State Assembly Member Yuh Line Niou
2021 LMCC Creative Engagement Grant, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
Interviews
C4 Journal, Interview with Callum Beaney, 2021
A Moment Materialized with Carli Beseau, Brooklyn Navy Yard, 2021
Frame & Sequence with Todd Ritondaro, 2019: Podcast Interview
Press/Features
Loeil de la photographie: Flutter
Fish Eye Magazine: Flutter Les coups de cœur
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023: Chinatown(s) and the City, Documenting Iconic American Neighborhoods
CBS News, 2022: Portraits reflect fears, joys, hopes of NYC's hard-hit Chinatown community
News 12 Brooklyn, 2022: Brooklyn photographer launches project to document Chinatown recovering from pandemic
Seen Magazine, 2021: Where Did All the Flowers Go?
Art in New York City, 2021: Where Did All the Flowers Go?
GothamToGo, 2021: David Zheng: Where Did All The Flowers Go?
doNYC, 2021: David Zheng Presents: Where Did All the Flowers Go?
Chinatown.NYC, 2021: Photo Exhibit: Where Did All the Flowers Go?
Street Sweeper Magazine, 2019: Afro Punk
Lomography, 2017: A NYC Lens: A New View on Cuba with David Zheng
C41 Magazine, 2017: Another Cuba: David Zheng looks for the real country behind the clichè
Positive Magazine, 2017: Cuba: after the blockade