It’s nearing a year since we last spoke to Kenneth Lam about his series The End of an Era. His latest project, The Jobs We Did, represents another year of further introspection, which explores the idiosyncrasies of first generation Chinese children, specifically those who worked in their parents’ takeaways and restaurants.

Lam, along with his brother and sister, started working at his parents’ restaurant at age 11. Picking up the phone and taking customer bookings, “Hello Wok Inn, how can I help you?” was a coming of age for Lam. He remembers his mother’s wrath, that of an industrious Chinese women, when he or his brother wouldn’t pick up the phone. They’d also spend time sorting documents and receipts for her. Late at night, after her shift, his mother would be tapping away on a calculator with the perpetual ringing of her phone for bookings and tv noise in the background. The sounds of customers downstairs in the busy restaurant finally quieted by a glass of sambuca to help her sleep. When the siblings were old enough to venture downstairs into the rhythms of business, they did bar work—sorting chopsticks, setting tables, etc.

For many immigrant children, life’s teachings manifested in the jobs they did. In order to teach Lam and his brother the value of tenacity and hard work, his father asked them to be kitchen porters for the night—the labourers of the kitchen, responsible for washing dishes, food prep, and keeping things orderly. Lam remembers, “my brother had a big stick to swish endless plates around and I would wash the remainder by hand.” The scent of kitchen work has become an internalized memory. The distinct smell of his father after finishing work–grease, oil, and sweat continues to linger in his mind.

The objects in Lam’s photographs, at first glance seemingly mismatched, are the tangible seams of these experiences; objects in which Lam’s memories are infused with the sights, tastes, and smells of his childhood. Staff meals, he recalls, happened every night, so he became used to being a late night eater. The dishes were very traditional–a whole poached yellow-skin chicken–a shared language only enjoyed by the staff in contrast to the food served to western customers enjoyed in the dining room. The Chinese restaurant is a microcosm of cultural ideal and reality–the kitchen is the heart, the home even, while the dining room is symbolic of the face presented to the western world. Kitchen staff flip flops, crocs, cigarette buts, and raw ingredients decorated the kitchen’s corners.

In a striking portrait–endowed with red symbolism–is Lams’ niece Sophie. She’s styled in the way Lam viewed his mother as a child–luxurious, yet grounded by humble washing gloves and flip flops. When the Wok Inn became successful, his mother could afford luxurious items–a part of her dream to be a rich woman in England; a homeowner running her business while draped in fur coats. However, when Lam started looking at her past, he was met with the realization that she grew up in a tiny village in Hong Kong nicknamed "Rat Tails Village." His mother couldn't afford shoes, and money was precious. Just like Lam, she had worked at her parents’ takeaway and dreamed of going to concerts and going out with her sisters.

Lam also fantasized of life outside the restaurant. He always dreamt of being creative, and while his heritage largely inspires his contemporary work, the labour of the kitchen as a child never lent him the creativity he yearned for. On the nights when he was left upstairs with his brother, he’d make bags out of toilet rolls, whole cityscapes from toy cars and old cardboard boxes. Lam recalls,

I saw how hard my parents worked for my future and I didnt want to do that. My mum would always say, ‘who taught you how to relax so well?’ I think watching her work as hard as she did, then eventually becoming ill, made me realize that there are so many more things that are more important than money and work. I'm privileged as I didn't have to necessarily ‘survive’ like my parents generation, so this gave me freedom to pursue and explore what I actually wanted.

Model - Sophie

Photographer - Kenneth Lam

MUA/Hair - Allison England

Clothing - Wed Studios (apart from Yellow Jacket - stylist own)

Location - Wok Inn Northampton