“I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians” is a long-standing street photography project dedicated to capturing and encapsulating the vanity, bewilderment, angst, and pain of the time we live in, intertwining with culture and zeitgeist of the modern-day SFBA and the photographer’s own weltanschauung, prise de risque, and upbringing. To carry out the project, Zhuang has been extensively and relentlessly pounding the pavements of San Francisco, San Jose, and beyond. Zhuang seeks to draw from the characters, the scenes, and the light in the photographs to articulate a statement, to make some noise, and to celebrate worlds that often go unseen.

In the first photograph, the man in a beanie was making a choice. When being offered the spiritual solace of religion and God, he decided to opt for the ephemeral material comfort of alcohol from his fellow man. Zhuang pressed the shutter as he strongly felt that the beanie man was voicing out a manifesto, and he wanted to deliver the message far and wide. We are the people; we are the drowned; we are the terribly forgotten and forsaken. Our dreams, beliefs, and prides are long long gone. And guess what’s the deal? We do not care if we go down in history as barbarians, not anymore.