Raymond Cauchetier, Courtesy of Boogie Woogie Photography.
展覽《我城》展出十三位本地及外國攝影師關於香港的攝影作品，他們來自法國、美國或日本，也有多位香港本地攝影師；他們有的在1950年代已開始攝影，也有剛開始攝影生涯的年輕攝影師。每位攝影師均有屬於自己的香港故事，這也是這次展覽「My Hong Kong」的由來，他們對香港有不同看法，眼中的香港也不盡相同，而這正體現這座城市的多樣性。
Raymond Cauchetier是法國新浪潮電影劇照攝影師，1951年，他隨法國空軍到胡志明市 (舊稱西貢) 服役，當時正值第一次印度支那戰爭，他拍攝空軍的行動以及戰役，為此還得到戴高樂將軍的褒獎。1954年戰爭結束後，他展開遊覽東南亞的旅程，在香港、澳門、越南、柬埔寨、老撾及日本等地拍攝當地的風土民情，在他的舊香港照片中，可見掛滿招牌的街道。
Boogie Woogie Photography & PhotogStory are pleased to present “My Hong Kong, 我城”, a group exhibition at the Loft Wong Chuk Hang, from 3 September to 15 October 2022.
Every city has its own story to tell. In a vibrant and bustling city like Hong Kong, more stories are yet to be told. For Boogie Woogie Photography and PhotogStory, Photography brought us together. Although we have different backgrounds, we share the same passion for photography and fondness for this city. We met several years ago at an Art Fair, and now we’re thrilled to curate this exhibition, “My Hong Kong, 我城”, in Wong Chuk Hang.
James Chung, Queen’s Road Central, 1959. Courtesy of Boogie Woogie Photography.
“My Hong Kong, 我城”, comprises thirteen Hong Kong and international photographers’ artworks about the city. On display are Raymond Cauchetier and James Chung’s cityscapes from the 1950s as well as young talents’ impressions of Hong Kong. These images not only present the city’s past and present but also embrace the city’s diversity through the photographers’ eyes. We hope you enjoy the exhibition as we enjoy the city that we’re much-loved.
Raymond Cauchetier, Courtesy of Boogie Woogie Photography.
Everyone sees and feels the city from their perspective. People who have been to Hong Kong at different ages always have a reason to fall in love with the city. Under the lens of James Chung and French photographer Raymond Cauchetier, there is street scenery full of Chinese characters, reflecting people’s simple life at that time. Even though Chung and Cauchetier lived in different worlds, they had similar fates. Both were self-taught photographers and recorded Hong Kong’s street scene nearly seventy years ago. Later, they became set photographers, respectively for Hong Kong Films and for the French New Wave in the 1960s. Their photographs left a critical testimony of the golden era.
Hong Kong’s architecture also reflects the city’s character. Chun Wai photographed buildings with rounded corners, a practical architectural style popular in the post-war. Under the lens of Dustin Shum, a ping pong table painted in bright green in Shun on Estate is reminiscent of American director Wes Anderson’s movies at first glance. Yet, the bright colors contrasted with the mottled ground if you look closely, revealing the refurbishment in public housing estates, where the city’s low-income residents live. Photographer Felix Wong focuses on skyscrapers, extracting the background and apparent characteristics of the buildings, and simply presenting its aesthetics with geometric lines.
Hong Kong is known for its distinctive tower-studded cityscape. The high-rise buildings captured by photographers Stephen King and Thierry Cohen present a typical overlook of the city. Thierry Cohen combined stars shot separately from remoted deserts to the Victoria Harbour night scene with digital techniques, to give the cityscape a romantic and surreal look. Although Hong Kong is full of skyscrapers, nature is not far from the city. Japanese photographer Takeshi Shikama captured this urban jungle. The photographs are hand-printed on Japanese handmade Ganpi paper with the ancient platinum technique. His images demonstrate the city’s rarely seen elegant silent beauty.
Thierry Cohen, Hong Kong 22° 16’ 38’’ N 2012-03-22 lst 14:00, From Darkened Cities series, 2010-2012. Courtesy of Boogie Woogie Photography.
Hong Kong is a charismatic city. Whether in the movies or the reality, this place always attracted and fascinated visitors. We hope the audiences can arouse unique memories of the city in the “My Hong Kong, 我城” exhibition.
My Hong Kong, 我城
Date: 3 Sep – 1 Oct, 11-15 Oct 2022
Time: 2-7pm (Tuesday – Saturday)
Address: The Loft, 8/F, E Wah Factory Building,
56-60 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Wong Chuk Hang.
Guided tour with the artists: Saturday 10 September, 2-4pm
PS: 4-8 Oct will be exhibiting at Fine Art Asia in HKCEC Wan Chai.
About Boogie Woogie Photography
Boogie Woogie Photography is a company founded in Hong Kong in 2016 to promote photography in Asia. The mission is to act as a platform for galleries, collectors, companies, and photographers aiming to develop photography projects in Hong Kong and Asia.
About PhotogStory
PhotogStory is an online Photography platform and Guest Curator based in Hong Kong. We focus on stories of local and international photographers and stories behind classic photos.
Artists Profile
Raymond Cauchetier (France, 1920-2021)
Raymond Cauchetier was the most famous photographer of French New Wave cinema. His first photographs were taken in his thirties while serving in the press corps of the French Air Force in Indochina. Cauchetier traveled through Hong Kong in 1954 because the city was conveniently on the air route he had chosen on his way to France on his return from Indochina. He thought he would stay there for only 24 hours, but the city fascinated him, and his stay extended for one week. Hong Kong was still a quiet colonial city. It was a port and a compulsory crossing point for sailors rather than a place to stay. He left a bouquet of memories, a little yellowed but always authentic.
James Chung (China, 1925-2018)
James Chung embarked on his journey in photography in 1957 when he acquired his first Rolleicord. Entirely self-taught, he became a full-time movie-still photographer in 1963. James started his studio in North Point In 1968, focusing on portraits for commercials and print enlargement. His achievements in photography were further recognized by the Honorary Fellowship from the Photographic Society of Hong Kong and Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain later. The Hong Kong Heritage Museum collects his works.
Fan Ho (China, 1931-2016)
Dubbed the “Cartier-Bresson of the East”, Fan Ho patiently always waited for the decisive moment. His images are often a collision of the unexpected, framed against a very clever composed background of geometrical construction, patterns, and texture. He often created drama and atmosphere with backlit effects or through the combination of smoke and light. His favorite locations were the streets, alleys, and markets around dusk or life on the sea. His works were in many private and public collections, including the M+ Museum & the Heritage Museum in Hong Kong, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the USA, and many more.
Takeshi Shikama (Japan, 1948)
Takeshi Shikama’s life ambition is to capture the “invisible” world that lingers beyond the visible world of the trees. Each photograph is hand-printed by Takeshi Shikama, using the ancient platinum/palladium technique, considered the highest quality in black and white photographic printing. The Japanese Gampi paper on which he prints is a handmade UNESCO national treasure. It requires a great deal of time and manual labor, which reflects the intimacy Shikama has with his subject matter.
Roger Ballen (the United States, 1950)
Roger Ballen’s photographs span over forty years, and he is one of the most influential and important photographic artists of the 21st century. His strange and extreme works confront the viewer and challenge them to come with him on a journey into their minds as he explores the deeper recesses of his own. Roger Ballen is one of the artists representing South Africa at the Venice Biennale 2022 in Italy.
Chun Wai (Hong Kong, 1958)
Born in Hong Kong and educated at the École supérieure des beaux-arts de Mulhouse in France, photographer Chun Wai’s perspective lies in his humanistic vision and macro-historical framework in interpreting the changing world. His project covered a vast area in the region, including Hong Kong. His work is full of a sorrowful yet romantic mood and reveals his personal landscape. The phantasmagorical image like a rhythm poem of a stray, is a unique work of art.
Thierry Cohen (France, 1963)
Thierry Cohen has been a professional photographer since 1985 and a pioneer in the use of digital techniques from the end of the 1980s. He lives and works between Paris and Monségur, close to the Atlantic Coast. Since 2006, he has devoted most of his time to personal work. Thierry is interested in the impact of human activities, particularly on nature. His works are held in private and public collections and regularly exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, and Paris.
Stephen King (the United States, 1966)
Stephen is an award-winning photographer based in Hong Kong, known for his painterly and carefully composed depictions of the natural and urban landscape. A product of two cultures, Stephen points to his love of Chinese ink and American Abstract Expressionist painting as influences that help inform his aesthetic. Ordinarily an intrepid world traveler, due to the pandemic, Stephen has spent much of the last few years in Hong Kong, exploring the colors and light in Hong Kong’s urban environment.
Julian Cohen (the United Kingdom, 1967)
Julian came to Hong Kong in 1998 for three months, fell in love with the city, and has stayed. He was called to
the Hong Kong Bar in 2010 and founded Resolution Chambers in 2021. He is today a renowned Barrister & Arbitrator. He photographs the city with his passion for the place and people.
Dustin Shum (Hong Kong, 1971)
Dustin Shum is a Hong Kong-based artist and documentary photographer. He has published several monographs on various topics, including Themeless Parks (2008), BLOCKS, and Live and Times (both in 2014). His works were collected by the SFMoMA, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, and private collectors.
Jocelyne Ho (Hong Kong, 1973)
Jocelyne has always been interested in photography – not to be behind or in front of a camera, but to see through a different pair of eyes, perhaps because she was aware that her eyes did not give her 20/20 vision. To her, everyone is a photographer. We may be looking in the same direction, the same object, but she believes we all see differently, and we choose which images to imprint on our minds.
Felix Sze Chung Wong (Hong Kong, 1991)
His passion for photography was sparked during high school by his peers and father. After a few years working as a photographer assistant for photographers of different sectors, Felix decided to study further in the field of art in the UK. Felix Sze Chung Wong is a Photographic artist who explores one’s relationship with the city through its facades.
Dion Leung (Hong Kong, 1999)
Dion Leung is a Hong Kong-based visual artist, mainly working with photography, videography, and collage. She explores topics of rebellion and conflict with a practice of realism. As a self-taught artist, Dion is constantly looking for the expression of art amongst human interaction in other disciplines. Having an interest in history and politics, she is trying to fulfill her understanding of the sophisticated world through her art practice and reminding herself that everything true is beautiful.
Mayer and Pierson工作室為拿破崙三世的情人Virginia Oldoini拍攝照片，被視為最早時尚攝影之一。
時尚與攝影，並非總是一併出現的，時尚源遠流長，而攝影面世尚不足二百年。時尚攝影的面世，自然與1839年攝影術的誕生息息相關，短短十多年後，所謂的時尚攝影已出現。在攝影的誕生地法國，攝影師Pierre-Louis Pierson與拍檔Mayer兄弟，在1855年成立Mayer and Pierson工作室，為當時的達官貴人拍攝肖像，其中為拿破崙三世的情人Virginia Oldoini拍攝的照片最廣為人知，相片中的她身穿豪華服飾、自信地展示不同的肢體動作。單純美感而言，這些照片已可媲美當下的時尚雜誌，後來這批影像也被普遍認為是最早的時尚攝影。
早期其實並沒有時尚攝影的說法，所謂的時尚與攝影，也只是上流社會的玩意，十九世紀中後期出現的兩本雜誌《Harper’s Bazaar》及《Vogue》，某程度上改變這現狀。初時流行以插畫展示時裝，美國商人Conde Nast在1909年收購《Vogue》後，銳意改革成high-end雜誌，找來當時著名的肖像攝影師Adolph de Meyer拍攝時裝，嚴格來說，這才是時尚攝影的開端，意味着時尚攝影進入專業化的年代。
by Edward Steichenby Edward Steichen
Adolph de Meyer為《Vogue》及《Vanity Fair》雜誌掌鏡，1922年轉投《Harper’s Bazaar》成為首席攝影師，原有職位則由藝術攝影大師Edward Steichen接手。最初拍攝服裝時，Edward Steichen也如Adolph de Meyer一樣，利用柔和燈光營造出唯美感，但很快他便摒棄這種古典油畫風格，取而代之是輪廓分明、光影對比強烈的影像，來呈現出女性與時裝的魅力。這一風格對後來的時尚攝影有很大影響，因而被後人尊稱為「現代時尚攝影之父」，相反比他更早入行的Adolph de Meyer，卻漸漸被人遺忘。
踏入廿一世紀，這邊廂Miles Aldridge的《Homeworks》系列作品色彩夢幻，身穿華麗外衣的模特兒神情茫然，藉此反諷社會物化女性的現象。那邊廂，為意大利《Vogue》操刀的Steven Meisel走得更前，2005年的《Makeover Madness》直指時尚圈的整容問題，2006年的《State of Emergency》講的是恐怖主義下女性受到不人道對待，2007年的《Make Love Not War》系列，則通過風花雪月的畫面與當時的戰爭形成強烈對比，藉此呼籲停止伊拉克戰爭。
