The sky over the Pacific Palisades had turned the color​ of rust, with the thick smoke blocking the late afternoon​ sun. When I arrived just a couple of hours after the first​ reports of the Palisades fire had come in, multimillion-dollar homes and the hills above them were already​ on fire as I turned off Sunset Boulevard and entered​ a residential neighborhood in the Pacific Palisades. The​ roads leading out of the hills were filled with evacuation​ traffic that clogged the winding streets. In contrast,​ others had abandoned their cars altogether, shouldering​ backpacks, pets, and whatever they could carry…
Philip Cheung is a photographer living and working in Los Angeles and has extensive experience in the Middle East, where he was previously based. His commissioned and personal work covers a range of photographic projects, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Los Angeles wildfires, the history of Chinese railroad workers in America, and the portraiture of celebrities and public figures.