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.
Ben Brown Fine Arts畫廊帶來曾廣智、Paul Anthony Smith及Awol Erizku等藝術家的作品。路過畫廊時，被非裔美國藝術家Awol Erizku的作品《Girl with Bamboo Earrings》(2009) 吸引目光，它令人直接想起荷蘭畫家Vermeer的名作《戴珍珠耳環的少女》。兩者的構圖、動作及表情均十分相似，原本以為只是另一幅模仿名畫的影像，後來得知這只是藝術家2012年個展《Black and Gold》其中一幅作品，還有靈感來自達文西的《Lady with a Pitbull》及取材自卡拉瓦喬的《Boy Holding Grapes》等。
史國瑞是中國著名針孔攝影家，剛開幕的M+博物館，藏有七件他的作品，可惜並沒收藏他拍攝西九龍及維港的作品《To See Hong Kong Island From Kowloon 15-16 July 2016》，這幅暗箱攝影（Camera Obscura）作品最近在10號贊善里畫廊舉辦的二十週年聯展中展出。
Shi Guorui is a well-known Chinese pinhole photographer. One of his works, “To See Hong Kong Island From Kowloon 15-16 July 2016,” was exhibited at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery’s 20th Anniversary Exhibition recently.
In 1990, Shi majored in Photography at Nanjing Normal University and systematically studied the various genres of photography. Although pinhole photography lacks sharpness, the unique visual effects deeply attracted him. Starting in 1998, he focused on creating pinhole photography. He even built a camera obscura a few meters in size for shooting, exposing the image directly to the photographic paper.
Pinhole Photography has given him a better understanding of the artwork and brings him peace of mind during the long exposure process. His largest work is eight meters long, which is undoubtedly a big challenge for constructing the camera obscura and the image processing.
For more than 20 years, Shi has worked on the Great Wall, Mount Everest, Yangtze River, and Times Square. Since 2013, he has conducted site visits in Hong Kong and created artworks at Tai Kwun, Happy Valley, and Victoria Harbour in the next few years. In this photo taken in West Kowloon, he transformed the Deutsche Bank meeting room of the International Commerce Centre into a colossal Camera Obscura to capture the Victoria Harbour.
約十五年後，她創作出另一件作品《15槍……從1989到2003》(15 Shots…From 1989 to 2003)。當時，畫家李松松(正是他當年為肖魯提供手槍)為她拍攝手握54式手槍的黑白數碼照片，照片裝裱後運至北京某靶場，肖魯用77式手槍先後向十五張照片開槍，子彈穿透玻璃及照片，在照片中她的額頭、臉龐及眼睛等位置留下槍眼痕跡，宣洩在《對話》作品後隱藏多年的壓力及情緒，藉此也告別他與唐宋近十五年的感情。
On February 5, 1989, artist Xiao Lu fired two shots towards her phone booth installation artwork “Dialogue” at the “China/Avant-Garde Exhibition” held at the National Art Museum of China, which became a crucial moment in Chinese contemporary art history. After the gunshots, she and Tang Song, another artist who helped set up the artwork, were imprisoned for three days, and they became lovers for more than a decade after that.
About fifteen years later, Xiao Lu created another artwork, “15 Shots…From 1989 to 2003.” Painter Li Songsong (who provided Xiao Lu with the gun back then) took a black and white digital photo of Xiao Lu holding a 54-type pistol. The image was mounted and transported to a shooting range in Beijing. Xiao Lu shot each photo with a 77-type pistol bullet. The 15 bullets penetrated the glass and pictures, leaving gun marks on her forehead, face, and eyes in the images. The artwork released her pressure and emotions hidden for many years after the “Dialogue” and bid farewell to her years of relation with Tang Song.
Xiao Lu describes the artwork on her website as below.
Love, The sky Knows. Hate, The earth Knows, Without love; Without hate, The devil knows.
I am no good at theoretical explanation and even worse at talking about art. All I know is real life. As a work, it’s from, for me, is just an internal necessity. It can be a painting or a poem. Perhaps it requires a gun. All of this is decided by your own psychological tendencies, your disposition. This is not anything that can be explained by the word “art,” but rather a survival instinct, your very lift.
Pedder Street, The Bund, Hong Kong. Photograph by John Thomson, 1868/1871. Photo credit- Wellcome Collection
John Thomson用十年時間在亞洲各地遊歷拍攝，照相機一直陪伴他的旅行，記錄沿途的所見所聞。 1872年回到英國後，他用大量時間整理照片，並出版五套關於中國的著作，包括《中國和中國人照片集》（Illustrations Of China And Its People）、《鏡頭前的舊中國》（Through China With A Camera）等。他是第一位在西方出版圖書介紹中國的攝影師，其著作大大擴闊西方人對中國的認識，也使他名留青史。
The Bund, Hong Kong. Photograph by John Thomson, 1868/1871. Photo credit- Wellcome Collection
Scottish explorer John Thomson (1837-1921) was one of the first western photographers to photograph Hong Kong. He came to Hong Kong and opened a photo studio on Queen’s Road in 1866. In addition to taking portraits of people with wet plate photography(wet-collodion process), Thomson also likes to document the streets of Hong Kong in his spare time, such as the clock tower in Pedder Street, Government House, Sedan chair, and Lion Rock, leaving precious visual records for Hong Kong in the 19th century, which may be regarded as the earliest street photography.
