Like you and I, Hong Kong is not a classic beauty.
Paris has its ordered Boulevards, New York its striking landmarks; Hong Kong is a jumble of newness and everyday life, with buildings jostling for attention in the haphazard skyline. Yet, it’s this hotchpotch of lifestyles that makes it one of the most photogenic cities on the planet.
Skyscraper alleyways blossom with market stalls selling everything from fruit to dildos; apartment blocks roll from the sky like streams of repeat pattern silk; cockroaches scuttle across streets avoiding the tread of shined leather shoes like a gross video game: wherever you look in the city is an image worthy of a photo frame.
I bought a simple point and shoot digital camera (Nikon Coolpix P310) on the first week here from a shop on Stanley Street (a great place for good value photography equipment) and it hasn’t left my side. I’m not remotely trained in photography (aside from attending a lot of press calls as a PR), but I love the pictures I take and have spent a long time thinking about why that is.
It’s not just me either, as many of my fellow expats have followed suit, not to mention the many acclaimed international photographers who’ve chosen the city as their muse.
Certainly, this has a lot to do with our desire to document our travels, but something about these images outside of their frame inspires me too. For me, Hong Kong captures in snapshots where we are as a global society right now. The poor and rich mingle on the same street crossings, a glass building incongruously juts out from a tropical hillside, a market stall of iPhone covers sits beside a bloody fish mongers; so every image becomes a metaphor for the good and bad of globalisation.
What could be more beautiful than that?
PFHK
What’s your favourite place in Hong Kong to photograph? Think you know a more photogenic city? Leave a comment or message me @chrispbone.
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