I’ve been here before. Twice, actually. Pre-handover 1996 Hong Kong, and then 2014-ish, airline travel contest participant Hong Kong, but this is the first time I’m actually here. This is the first time I’m seeing and feeling what it means to walk these streets. Hong Kong does not disappoint. This is made possible by the Cathay Camera Club, the organization that brought me here from Japan. I can’t thank these people enough. They are so organized, so nice, and so wildly keen on sharing what they love about their city.
And for those of you wondering, this is no average camera club. These folks are dialed. Their ranks run from working pros to advanced amateurs, and even the advanced amateurs would give most pros a run for their money. Camera clubs, at least in the United States, have a semi-slanderous reputation of old men arguing over fluoride elements, and yes, you can find plenty of those folks in VFW lounges and the Elks Lodge all across America, but CCC is a whole different beast.
Where do I come in? Books. Of course, books.
Find theme, stick with theme, edit theme, sequence, design, experiment, test, and try. Repeat. Yesterday was twelve hours of walking and eating. The city is right there, right on the surface. As my main contact said, “Before you come to Hong Kong, find your limit, otherwise the city will find it for you.” I love, love, love this description. Hong Kong is a vice city. Whatever your pleasure, it’s right there in neon. But things are changing rapidly, my friends. What’s old is new. Things are being torn down and built at a pace that ONLY China can understand.
Today is two three-hour sessions of editing, printing, making sense of the work, and then translating that to print. I also gave them an assignment that they must read in front of the group. What’s my tactic this time around? Imagination. Rediscover and tap like a main vein of crude buying since the Paleolithic. Imagination is often taught, beaten, or threatened out of us as we age. Kids have it, but we sometimes lose it, and now with the changes in technology and brain power, we are potentially on the verge of gifting our imagination to machines controlled by the freakiest of freaks. Don’t let this happen. Fight for it.
Comments 8
I’m envious! I’ve been to Hong Kong a number of times over the past 20 years, between 3–5 days each time as a kind of buffer stop: Usually still getting ready for trips to the mainland, trying to finish admin and research planning and various communications I didn’t finish before leaving home (and which I shouldn’t do or couldn’t do inside the Great Firewall), and literally sending papers home, as well as visa renewal trips when there was a risk that the local PSB would reject a renewal, and shopping (pre-smartphones, when my Nokia wouldn’t work in China, and I needed to buy a phone). Etc. Everything was easier and freer in Hong Kong (it felt at first like a strange mix of Beijing merged with a humid London, by the sea!). Consequently, I got to see parts of Hong Kong to a limited extent, and experienced the buzz of wondering around, but usually in a rush. I never got the opportunity to enjoy some “free” days of just being in Hong Kong. It would probably be unwise for me to go back now, even to Hong Kong (after my last stressful experiences in the PRC). I hope things improve in the coming years.
You also sound busy there!
Curious about your (recent?) mixing of colour images with black and white images. Consciously breaking your own “rules” (or did I misunderstand)?
Have a great trip!
Author
It’s a crazy cool place, but as my friend said, it’s a vice city. My workshop is over, but I judge a contest tomorrow night. A little free time, and the crew who brought us here are SOOOOO nice and SOOOO great. They are taking us all over the place. As for the imagery, yes, not a project. I’m teaching, so doing all kinds of things I wouldn’t do personally, but doing so to use as teaching moments.
I’m sure you’ll enjoy your (albeit limited) free time – I’ll look out for more photos.
Author
Bingo
Photo London?
Author
Not this year. I might be in London in October, but a three day trip at most.
it seems as things devolve and unravel in the photo space,… you only get busier! It’s amazing!
Author
It’s true. But, took me since 1988 to get here.