
A photographer has documented the life of a Chinese family living inside a 350 square-foot apartment in New York City's Chinatown with poignant images spanning a decade.

In 2003, Thomas Holton was with a local housing advocate when he met Steven and Shirley Lam and their three New-York born children Michael, Franklin and Cindy. The family lived in a fifth-floor apartment in a tenement building on Ludlow Street, according to the New York Times.

At the time Holton, born to a Chinese mother and an American father, had started photographing the streets and daily rituals of Chinatown in an effort to better understand his own Chinese heritage.

But what started as a traditional documentary project for his master's thesis at the School of Visual Arts quickly turned more intimate as he began an in-depth photographic look at the Lams' every day life in the cramped quarters.

Now 13 years later, Holton's work has become a book, The Lams of Ludlow Street, published this month by Kehrer Verlag.

Photographer Thomas Holton has documented the life of a Chinese family living inside a 350 square-foot apartment in New York City's Chinatown neighborhood with poignant images spanning a decade. The three Lam children, Michael, Franklin and Cindy pictured in 2003

The Lam children pictured during bath time in 2004. In 2003, Holton was with a local housing advocate when he met Steven and Shirley Lam and their three New-York born children who lived in a fifth-floor apartment in a tenement building on Ludlow Street

Ms Lam prepares food while watching a Chinese soap opera in 2004. Holton, born to a Chinese mother and an American father, had started photographing the streets and daily rituals of Chinatown in an effort to better understand his own Chinese heritage

The Lams captured in a family portrait before having a meal in 2004. Holton's project started as a traditional documentary project for his master's thesis but turned more intimate as he began an in-depth photographic look at the family's every day life in the cramped quarters

Initially when he started the project, the 46-year-old was intrigued by the Tetris-like arrangement of the furniture inside the Lams' apartment along with their daily routine, according to The New York Times.

He was also excited to have the opportunity to get through 'the proverbial closed door and meet a neighborhood family who welcomed me into their lives,' Slate reported.

In his project's early work, it explores the family's surroundings and daily lives. At the time, Mr Lam worked at an import-export company while Ms Lam was a stay-at-home mother.

As he got to know the family - picking up the children from school, sharing meals, visiting their relatives in Hong Kong and China, and even having Cindy as his flower girl when he married - the project became more personal and evolved into exploring their family dynamics.

The family's laundry dries on a clothes line on the roof of their building with views of New York City in the background in 2004

Mr Lam seen above with sons Michael and Franklin in 2005. During Holton's time photographing the family, Mr Lam and Ms Lam end up divorcing

The Lams' front door of their apartment is pictured in 2005. Now 13 years later since he started the project in 2003, Holton's work has become a book, The Lams of Ludlow Street , published this month

A bouquet of flowers sit in the bathtub in a 2005 photo. Initially when Holton started the project, the 46-year-old was intrigued by the Tetris-like arrangement of the furniture inside the Lams' apartment (pictured) along with their daily routine

A bedroom in the apartment pictured in 2005. In his project's early work, Holton explores the family's surroundings and daily lives. At the time, Mr Lam worked at an import-export company while Ms Lam was a stay-at-home mother

Ms Lam takes a break and drinks from a bowl while sitting at a table in 2010. When he started the project Holton said he was excited to have the opportunity to get through 'the proverbial closed door and meet a neighborhood family who welcomed me into their lives'

Cindy lies next to her mother on the bed while her brother Franklin sits nearby and plays a game on the computer during Spring Break in 2010

'Once this more intimate and personal aspect of our relationship developed, I became less and less interested in their small apartment and became much more curious about their family life, the relationships with one another and what was happening in their lives,' Holton told Slate.

'As a result, my images changed too - I feel they became much more nuanced and subtle.'

Holton, a now a parent himself, would take 'creative pauses' that would last a year or more and allowed the family's story to evolve, simultaneously informing the editing process for what has now become The Lams of Ludlow.

When Holton returned in 2010 to photograph the family, the family had changed and the photographs reflected their changing situation.

The bed the children had shared as kids had been replaced by bunk beds and Ms Lam spent most of her time outside the apartment after becoming a home health aide, the New York Times reported.

'Chapter Two was very turbulent,' Holton told The Times. 'The parents were bickering. The kids were teenagers.'

Holton's latest series depicts the calm after the 'turbulent' season for the family, showing the oldest son Michael at college and his life in New York.

Mr and Ms Lam ended up divorcing with Mr Lam now living in New Jersey, according to The Times.

Cindy is pictured lying in bed while a curtain separates her from her brother who is doing work as they wait for dinner in 2011

Cindy and Mr Lam relax on a bed inside their apartment while one of her brothers plays a game on a laptop, right, in 2012

Cindy and her brother Michael, lounging on a bed and a couch, are pictured five days before he heads off for college in 2014

Ms Lam sits on a bed while Cindy lays next to her and one of her sons does work. Meanwhile Mr Lam is seen giving a stern lecture to their other son, right, in 2014

Cindy is pictured in 2014 checking her phone while waiting in the hallway of the apartment building

Cindy and her brother are pictured in their father's new apartment in New Jersey in 2014. Holton said Cindy was 'amazed' by her father's walk-in closet as their Ludlow Street apartment did not have one

The oldest child, Michael, is pictured in his college dorm room for orientation at the State University of New York, Binghamton in 2014

Cindy lounges after coming home from school as a piano sits below her bed in a 2015 photo taken by Holton

In one of Holton's photographs it shows Cindy, now 15, looking inside her father's walk-in closet as their Ludlow Street apartment did not have a closet. Holton told the newspaper 'she was amazed.'

While Holton found himself becoming a 'strange uncle who always has a camera' to the Lams, he never was able to make the same connection with the Chinatown neighborhood, noting he is still considered an outsider or visitor because he does not live there or speak fluent Chinese, according to Slate.