With his Asian looks and big camera in hand, Zhong is easily mistaken for just another tourist. His photos provide the distinction.

He has gotten up at dawn to see the city before it awakens, taking a shot of a sanitation worker cleaning the deserted TKTS stairs in Times Square that would be crammed with tourists in a few hours.

He snapped a photo of a mom, with a baby tucked at her side and a young son by her side, beaming with pride after taking part in the Climate March. He captured the real New York as a boy snoozed away on a stroller while his parents cheered on marathon runners.

On the coldest day of this year, he went out to the Lunar New Year Parade to take photos of the clouds of people's breath next to the Year of the Monkey puppets.

Once in a while, he also captured the perspective of a diplomat. From the balcony of the consulate, he took a bird's-eye-view photo of people packing the riverfront for the Fourth of July fireworks.

To reveal the complexity of the city, he shot the artificial limb of a homeless person with three young women jumping in flip-flops.

"I pondered how different lives can be," he wrote in the caption.

Zhong's works will be on display at the Asian Cultural Center through May 5.

hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com