Seattle photojournalist Karen Ducey | news and documentary photographer

Photo Stories: • Covid-19 - Seattle's C-ID

  • Surgical masks hang from a window in Seattle's Chinatown - International District on March 26, 2020. This project was produced in collaboration with the International Community Health Services (ICHS) documenting the effects of Covid-19 on the Chinatown-International District community. It was funded by Historic South Downtown, SPJ Western Washington Passion Project grant, and support from King County 4Culture. (photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Health-copy
  • Rattana Chaokhote, Clinical Services supervisor at ICHS dons a mask that reads, {quote}This is not a health insurance plan,{quote} at a COVID-19 drive thru and walk-in testing site held for people in the Pacific Islander community in collaboration with International Community Health Services at Federal Way High School Federal Way, Washington on July 31, 2020. A recent report by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and Bellevue-based Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM) analyzing COVID-19 data highlight the pandemicís disproportionate and increasing impact on communities of color. Case rates over the pandemic for Hispanic people and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander people are nine times higher than those of White people. Hospitalization rates are seven times higher for Hispanics and ten times higher for Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders than those of White people. ìWe know the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the health inequities historically marginalized and oppressed communities already experience,î said Dr. Kathy Lofy, state health officer at DOH. ìThese data are deeply concerning and underline the critical need to address the COVID-19 impacts weíre currently seeing by prioritizing outreach, testing, education and related materials for disproportionately impacted communities in ways that are culturally and linguistically appropriate and accessible.
  • ICHS nurse practitioner, Tess Sorbo (center), takes a swab sample from members of the Asian American Pacific Islander community at a COVID-19 drive thru and walk-in testing site held in collaboration with International Community Health Services at Federal Way High School in Federal Way, Washington on July 31, 2020. A recent report by the the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and Bellevue-based Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM) analyzing COVID-19 data highlight the pandemic’s disproportionate and increasing impact on communities of color. Case rates over the pandemic for Hispanic people and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander people are nine times higher than those of White people. Hospitalization rates are seven times higher for Hispanics and ten times higher for Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders than those of White people. ìWe know the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the health inequities historically marginalized and oppressed communities already experience,î said Dr. Kathy Lofy, state health officer at DOH. ìThese data are deeply concerning and underline the critical need to address the COVID-19 impacts weÌre currently seeing by prioritizing outreach, testing, education and related materials for disproportionately impacted communities in ways that are culturally and linguistically appropriate and accessible.
  • Frances Pele, age 12, whose family is from Samoa, looks at nurse practitioner Tess Sorbo, as she is about to be tested for COVID-19. A COVID-19 drive thru and walk-in testing site was held for people within the Asian American Pacific Islander community in collaboration with International Community Health Services at Federal Way High School Federal Way, Washington on July 31, 2020. A recent report by the the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and Bellevue-based Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM) analyzing COVID-19 data highlight the pandemic’s disproportionate and increasing impact on communities of color. Case rates over the pandemic for Hispanic people and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander people are nine times higher than those of White people. Hospitalization rates are seven times higher for Hispanics and ten times higher for Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders than those of White people. “We know the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the health inequities historically marginalized and oppressed communities already experience,” said Dr. Kathy Lofy, state health officer at DOH. “These data are deeply concerning and underline the critical need to address the COVID-19 impacts we’re currently seeing by prioritizing outreach, testing, education and related materials for disproportionately impacted communities in ways that are culturally and linguistically appropriate and accessible.”Joseph Seia from the Pacific Islander Community Association, “We have the highest infection rates, highest hospitalization rates. Not just here in Washington State for Pacific Islanders, but throughout this, the country and places like California, Oregon, Arkansas. And so we know our communities as most impacted during this crisis because of decades of health disparities, and systems that are unresponsive to Pacific Islander community health needs.”
  • Lisa Chan, a doctor from the International Community Health Services, which is based in the Chinatown-International District, explains to Guofu Cao the directions on a bottle of Vitamin C and why its important for him to take it, outside his apartment in Seattle, Washington on June 4, 2020. Chan delivered groceries to some of her patients on her day off as a way of checking in on them. Storefronts throughout the Chinatown-International District were boarded up after riots came through their neighborhood. Riots occurred nationwide over the death of George Floyd who died while in the custody of a white policeman in Minneapolis.
  • Tess Sorbo, a nurse practitioner from the International Community Health Services, gives vaccines to students who attend the Seattle World School in the parking lot of Dearborn Park International Elementary School in Seattle, Washington on July 30, 2020. Some kids are behind on their vaccines because of the pandemic shut down the schools. Janni Sun, school services administrator for ICHS says, “When schools closed pretty abruptly, we were really concerned about how to reach out to our kids because our students are from all over the district, they're not near our school…. It can be really hard when you come to a new place. If you've got a language barrier, you have to deal with structural racism all day, every day, as a part of your life. On the media, people are saying that they don't want you here. It can be really intimidating to go into a clinic or a public location and ask for something.”
  • SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 20: Dr. Alan Chun checks on a patient who suffered a fall at the International Community Health Services’ medical clinic in their assisted living facilty, the Legacy House, on March 20, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. The International Community Health Services is a non-profit clinic that cares for uninsured patients, low income people and immigrants, many of whom rely on federal aid programs. Non-profit community health centers around the country are facing the expiration of federal funding in May as the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread. (Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
  • Patients wait in long lines at the International Community Health Services Center on October 14, 2020. After the state relaxed its Covid restrictions and people felt safe enough to go outside there was a surge in demand for medical services. It put a huge strain on the health care workers. Lihn Lam Van, ICHS patient services supervisor at ID clinic says,” We don't have enough staff so we have to ask the staff to work extra hours. And, right now, even though you ask them to work OT, they don't want to do it too because they feel so tired. Because the day is really long for them to work and if you imagine it's like you non-stop on the floor and you're physically and you're mentally tired.”
  • Teresa Moy (R) drops off face cream and pears for her mother i in-law, Suit Moy, at the International Community Health Services’ assisted living facility, the Legacy House, on March 20, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. Her mother doesn’t understand why her daughter- in- law can’t stay and visit. The Legacy had closed to visitors, including family members, to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. The International Community Health Services is a non-profit clinic that cares for uninsured patients, low income people and immigrants who rely on federal aid programs. Non-profit community health centers around the country are facing the expiration of federal funding they rely on in May as coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread. (Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)
  • COMMUNITY-copy
  • Volunteers deliver meals to elderly and low-income residents in the Chinatown-International in Seattle, Wash. on May 21, 2020. Meals and groceries were delivered five days a week through the coordination of many community-based non-profits working together.
  • Volunteers and staff distribute food and groceries throughout the Chinatown-International District on May 7, 2020. Vincent Kwan, a program manager at InterIm says{quote}It's called disaster gentrification. An already vulnerable neighborhood having the impacts of COVID is already accelerating the gentrification that's already happening. So, we're very concerned about that.This community is meant for people that have been marginalized, have been pushed away from white neighborhoods historically. And they found refuge here. How do we protect a historical landmark and also a historical place for folks that call it home?{quote}(photo by Karen Ducey)
  • A resident in the Bing Kong Association building, a single room occupancy building, peers out from his door at the commotion in the hallway on April 21, 2020 in the Chinatown-International District in Seattle, WA. An employee from the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDpda) delivers masks to residents with the help from the building manager. Each bag contains three masks that were handmade and donated.
  • An employee from the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDpda) and a building manager drop off cloth masks for residents at the Bing Kung Association building on April 23, 2020 in Seattle, WA. The building houses many elderly Asian-American residents in single room occupancy units where residents have to share the bathroom and kitchen area. It is feared if COVID-19 gets in there it will run rampant. Old Fed Ex envelopes hung from many front doors serve as mailboxes.
  • Vincent Kwan, on staff at InterIm Community Development Association (InterIm CDA) helps with grocery distribution they got from ARCS to people who need it in the Chinatown-International District in Seattle, Wash. on May 28, 2020. Since the coronavirus pandemic InterIm has been distributing free groceries to people who have been afraid to go out because of racial profiling and also because of the coronovirus.
  • Volunteer Carmen Hom, from the InterIm Community Development Association, delivers groceries to elderly and low-income residents in the Chinatown-International District in Seattle, Washington on May 28, 2020. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, non-profits in the area banded together to prepare and deliver hot meals and groceries to people afraid to go out because of racial profiling and fear of catching Covid-19. Says Vincent Kwan, the program manager for InterIm, ”It's called disaster gentrification. An already vulnerable neighborhood - having the impacts of COVID is already accelerating the gentrification that's already happening. So, we're very concerned about that.”
  • 71-year-old Yan Nong Cui receives a bag of groceries delivered by volunteers from InterIm Community Development Association (InterIm CDA), to her home in the Kong Yick building on May 28, 2020. Since the coronavirus pandemic InterIm along with a COVID-19 task force made up of many non-profit organizations in the Asian American community including ICHS have been distributing free groceries and meals to people who have been afraid to go out because of racial profiling, as well as, fears of catching the coronavirus. There is no access to the internet in her building so she must get all news from her phone. (photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Culturally appropriate food is prepared at the ICHS Legacy House for seniors living in apartments the in the Chinatown – International District isolated because of the coronavirus, on April 21, 2020 in Seattle, WA. Because they had a big kitchen ICHS collaborated with many other community based organizations at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and through the summer to provide food. Other organizations also provided groceries. Many restaurants in the Chinatown - international District also provided hot meals.(Photo by Karen Ducey)
  • A gymnasium is transformed into an area where staff and volunteers packed bags of groceries to be distributed to seniors throughout King County at the Asian Counseling and Referral Service in Seattle, Wash. on May 30, 2021. Approximately 2,250 meals and 2,250 grocery bags were prepared each week, delivered Monday through Friday. The vast majority of meals and bagged groceries went to AAPI elders. Many of them live in the CID; however, King County Access Transportation and various community groups help to deliver to isolated and homebound elders all over King County. Volunteer drivers from over 20 organizations delivered the meals. Says Liza Javier, communications manager at ACRS, “We wanted to provide healthy meals and groceries to elders during the pandemic while ensuring they could remain safe at home.” (photos by Karen Ducey)
  • May 29, 2020 - Chef Gustavo “Panda” Pineda, a volunteer at the Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS), prepares chicken udon noodle soup in Seattle, Washington. Pineda had been laid off from his job at a restaurant due to the coronavirus shutting it down. Now he volunteers at ACRS everyday for the past three months. On this day he will six big woks of soup. Koway Ko who works with Panda in the kitchen explains why they volunteer, “I think it’s important for someone to just try to be the light in the dark. I think that’s what the world’s missing. If we all stand together, we’re so powerful. And it’s awesome.” (photos by Karen Ducey)
  • Daily life changed as new Stay-at-Home orders were issued by the governor in an effort to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
  • A couple walks past boarded up businesses in the Chinatown-International District in Seattle, WA on June 2, 2020. Businesses boarded up after a night of rioting swept up Jackson Street on May 29, 2020 and across the city the past couple of days. Protests around the country became violent after the killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, who died while in the custody of white police officers, one of whom held him down with his knee. (Photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Tony Ngo, 20, a student at Carleton College, works out with his mother in his parents living room in Seattle, Wash. on May 7, 2020. Ngo moved back in with his parents after his school closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic and said it brought the family closer together. (photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Sabrina, age 4, and Smira Sanura, age 6, run through the hallway of the Mercy House as their family remains in quarantine to help curb the spread of Covid-19 in Seattle, Wash. on October 21, 2020. They live with three other siblings including a newborn, two parents who work, and their grandmother in their apartment. One of the girls says the hardest thing about online learning is you have to mute and unmute yourself. She says this year has been difficult because sometimes other kids are allowed outside to play but their mother won’t let them. ICHS has a partnership with the Mercy House to pilot onsite health and wellness classes and events there. The girl’s mother, Amina Osman who works as a nurse says, “The biggest challenge is the fact that you have to be a mom and be a teacher at the same time. You have to multitask. Make sure food is at home and everything. So it's, it's been a tough taking care of a newborn and managing the kids as well.{quote} (photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Dawn Ung cares for her oldest son, Devin, 20, with assistance from her other son, Darin, 17, at their home in Seattle, Wash. on August 10, 2020. Devin was in a car accident several years ago that left him severely disabled from a traumatic brain injury. As a single mother, Dawn has to manage the needs of her three children, as well as, her job at the International Community Health Center, and worries she could bring Covid-19 into their home. “There's always speed bumps. Nothing really goes as planned in my world, so I just take it as it comes. I think that's the only way I know how to deal with things without making me crazy. I'm surprised I haven't gone insane yet.”
  • Jenifer Chao, Deputy Director of Administration in the Consumer Protection Division for the City of Seattle's Finance and Administrative Services Department, works from home in her daughterís room during Governor Jay Insleeís Stay-at-Home order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus on May 8, 2020. Chao belongs to the Mien community. Seven people from three generations live in her home in south Seattle. (photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Vicki Hang, 28 and Billy Moua, 25, sell peony flower bouquets from their pop-up stand outside the Kau Kau BBQ restaurant in the Chinatown-International District in Seattle, Washington on June 7, 2020. Normally they would sell the flowers from their families’ farm at farmers markets around Seattle but when those closed to curb the spread of Covid-19 the restaurant owner said they could sell them in his underused doorway.
  • Sherri Chu, the front desk coordinator at the Legacy House, and assisted living facility associated with the International Community Health Center, fixes a mask on resident Chen Zhixian. “We try our best to make sure the residents wear a mask,” she says in Seattle, Wash. on May 29, 2020.
  • Wong Wai, 94, a resident at the Legacy House, speaks on a ZOOM meeting with her children and grandchildren in Seattle, WA. on May 29, 2020. Originally from mainland China, Wai does not speak English. The Legacy House set up a laptop so residents could communicate with their loved ones. Says Raymond He from International Community Health Center, who runs the assisted living facility, about the family, “They're super grateful. I know they're all very concerned, especially with the news that's been going on right now. It's just a lot of scary news. So just seeing that their parents are here, healthy, safe. It's just really enlightening for them.”
  • Employees from the International Community Health Center transform a community room at the Legacy House, an assisted living facility, into a makeshift salon, in Seattle, Wash. on November 12, 2020. “Today we're providing haircuts for our residents.” says Raymond He, a supervisor. “I think this came out of necessity. A lot of the residents, I mean, it's been a while since they've even left the facility and their hair has gotten so long. Family members that have been watching them over video calls or maybe come by to drop off something, they've noticed their hair has been getting too long for them.I think they're very considerate about my lack of skill. They just want it shorter, just easier to manage.”
  • Workers make masks at Tom Bihn Inc. in Seattle, Washington on September 2, 2020. Tom Bihn Inc. usually produces backpacks and travel bags but started making masks at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Business slowed down after the pandemic began. Making reusable masks was a good solution to keep their employees working and help the company break even. The workforce at Tom Bihn is very diverse, almost half are people of Chinese descent. According to their website the Tom Bihn company designed and made over one million non-medical face masks, donating over 200,000 masks to elder communities, tribal nations, and food banks. Says Wong, “At the beginning, we just want, we can help the people, safety, when everybody put on the mask. So we just sewing, not so fun. Just want to save the life almost is the thing.” (photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Tan Zhong Lian, an 86 year-old Chinese immigrant from the Guangdong province, practices Tai Chi on a balcony at the Legacy House on May 26, 2020. Lian normally would do her daily exercise at a nearby park but since the Governor’s Stay-at-Home order she has had to practice on the balcony of the assisted living facility. “Now I cannot go out because I get infected if I go out, so I have to stay inside. So I do exercise in the morning and then evening and I feel satisfied with everything I have…. At the beginning it's so difficult. Just start to quarantine, so difficult. Didn't know what to do. So boring, cannot go out. Now I got used to it because I find a place I can do exercise.“
  • June Huynh (left) assistant manager, bumps elbows with Judy Lew as they greet each other at Viet-Wah, an Asian grocery store located in Seattle’s Little Saigon neighborhood, on February 24, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. Bumping elbows instead of shaking hands or hugging, became the proper way to greet someone to help curb the spread of Covid-19. (Photo by Karen Ducey)
  • blmslate
  • A window is shattered after a night of protests swept through the Chinatown-International District in Seattle, Wash. on May 30, 2020. Protests around the country became violent over the past couple days after the police killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. (photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Julia Yen and Alan Trang, who live in the Chinatown - International District, pose for a portrait while sweeping up glass and debris on Jackson St. after a night of protests broke windows and vandalized buildings in the Chinatown-International District in Seattle, Wash. on May 30, 2020. They were upset after witnessing the violence the night before and woke up in the morning wanting to do something.
  • A storefront is damaged in the Chinatown-International District after a night of protests in Seattle, Wash. on May 30, 2020. Protests around the country became violent over the past couple days after the police killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, who was killed while in the custody of white police officers. Residents of the Chinatown-International District were already on edge after a couple Asian-targeted hate crimes occurred in the neighborhood fueled by President Donald Trump’s references of COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” or “Kung flu.”
  • Amy Eng, owner of the Dim Sung King restaurant on 6th and Jackson, talks to people after her restaurant was damaged the night before in rioting in the Chinatown-International District in Seattle, Wash. on May 30, 2020. Protests around the country became violent over the past couple days after the police killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. People photographed was (photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Amy Eng, owner of the Dim Sung King restaurant on 6th and Jackson, talks about how after rioters broke her windows, later that night someone broke in through the back door and stole their money, in the Chinatown-International District in Seattle, Wash. on May 30, 2020. Protests around the country became violent over the past couple days after the police killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. (photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Maintenance crews from SCIDpda board up storefronts on one their buildings on Jackson St. after a night of protests in the Chinatown-International District in Seattle, Wash. on May 30, 2020. Protests around the country became violent over the past couple days after the police killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis. (photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Volunteers of the Night Watch group pose for a photo before the start of their shift patrolling in the Chinatown - International District in Seattle, Washington on July 20, 2020. After a wave of looting, vandalism and racist incidents in the neighborhood in early June the group took matters into their own hands. They patrol the neighborhood from 10pm until 2pm every night.
  • Volunteers of the night watch group in the Chinatown - International District in Seattle, Washington on July 20, 2020. The group numbers between 6 - a dozen volunteers a night who patrol the neighborhood (Photo by Karen Ducey)
  • 5th graders from Mr. Daichi Hirataís class at the Waldorf School, including Kabir Sethi (center), 11, and Mika Kodama- Chew (on ladder) paint a mural of a Chinese lion over the boarded up storefront of the Fortuna Cafe in Seattle, WA on June 9, 2020. Many storefronts were damaged after a night of rioting swept through the CID after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died when a police officer pinned him to the ground with a knee on his neck. The community responded by boarding up storefronts and hosting artist events to brighten up the streets with murals painted on them. The kids were distracted by firemen putting out a fire at the building across the street. (photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Misha Zadeh and Ben Graham (not in photo) paint a Black Lives Matter mural on the boarded up ICHS Vision Clinic in Seattleís Chinatown International District in Seattle Washington on June 14, 2020. Says Zadeh, {quote}Its really cool to see the arts community come together and put effort into such a good cause.{quote} Several community arts events were held to beautify the boarded up storefronts and support the Black Lives Matter movement. (Photo by Karen Ducey)
  • Sheila Locke from NastyMix Entertainment spins some Asian fusion tunes at Hing Hay Park during a community arts event in the Chinatown-International-District in Seattle Washington on June 14, 2020. Dozens of artists came together to paint murals in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on plywood at businesses that had been boarded up because of recent riots and the spread of coronavirus.
  • Juliana Winters (left) with her son Oliver Winters, age 5, from Seattle participate in a rally protesting anti-Asian hate crimes called ìKids vs. Racism{quote} at Hing Hay Park in the Chinatown-International District of Seattle, Washington, U.S. on March 20, 2021. (Photo by Karen Ducey).
  • future
  • Wai Ying Wong, age 94, a resident at the Legacy House, meets her great-grandson, Carson Yu,six weeks old, for the first time in Seattle, Washington on September 7, 2020.This is the first time since COVID-19 closed the assisted living facility to visitors following Governor Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home orders in the spring that the family, including parents Michelle Faylona and Braniff Yu, has been able to meet.
  • Kuang Suying, age 60, who works in a noodle factory in the Chinatown-International District, reacts after getting a Covid-19 vaccination shot at a pop-up clinic run by the International Community Health Services at the Bush Asia Center in Seattle, Wash. on March 18, 2021. (Photo but Karen Ducey)
  • Portfolio
    • • Photojournalism
    • • Portraits
    • • Industry
    • • Pacific Northwest Travel
    • • Sports
  • Photo Stories
    • • Covid-19 - Seattle's C-ID
    • • This is No Joke
    • • Seattle's Deaf-Blind Community
    • • Bering Sea Crab
    • • Covid-19 hits Seattle
    • • An Extraordinary Time
    • • Beauty Pageant in Gary,IN
    • • Captivity
    • • Alaska Commercial Fisheries
    • • Vancouver Riots
  • words from editors / directors
  • selected publications
  • writing
  • video
  • about
    • bio
  • copyright

copyright © Karen Ducey 2020. Site design © 2010-2023 Neon Sky Creative Media