A self-trained amateur photographer, Arnold Genthe began making photographs of the San Francisco in the Pictorialist mode--typified by its soft focus and carefully arranged composition--that was then practiced widely among Bay Area photographers. In this image, a man identified as Lew Kan, a store owner known for his wealth, is shown walking down a Chinatown street with his two sons, Lew Bing You and Lew Bing Yuen, both dressed in elegant holiday clothing. This photograph was probably made sometime after it was shot when Genthe altered his Chinatown negatives by cropping, retouching, and scratching out traces of American context. Here, a figure in Western dress at the upper right has been scratched out to create a sense of picturesque cultural authenticity despite the growing American presence in the area. This process of editing images was in keeping with the pictorial philosophy of artfully composed photographs of the period.