Tseng was part of a circle of artists in the 1980s New York art scene including Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf and Cindy Sherman.

In the series, Tseng dressed in what he called his "Mao suit" and sunglasses (dubbed a "wickedly surrealistic persona"[1] by The New York Times) and photographed himself situated, often emotionlessly, in front of iconic tourist sites.

[4] In 1984, his photographs were shown with Haring's work at the opening of the Semaphore Gallery East location in a show titled "Art in Transit".

[5] He moved to Manhattan's East Village in 1979,[3][5] where he soon met fellow avant-garde artists Haring,[3][5] Scharf,[3][5] Jean-Michel Basquiat,[5] and Ann Magnuson.

[7] Tseng died of AIDS-related illness in 1990,[4][8] and was survived by his companion of seven years, Robert-Kristoffer Haynes, who remains a resident of New York City[as of?]