Back from my travels

I am now back in the UK after my trip to Australia and Hong Kong. The Australia piece was very much about racing triathlons with not so much time for photography. In Hong Kong however I managed to put my Leica rangefinder to use.

During our stay in Hong Kong we spent a lot of time crossing or cruising Victoria Harbour. I imagined before we went that it would look like it does in the movies – full of activity, old junks and so on…. This was not to be. It now serves mostly as a scenic outlook for the high rise offices and apartments all around and a site of a light show spectacle every evening. That said Star Ferries continue to transport thousands of people back and forward across the harbour from Hong Kong Island to the mainland (Kowloon) every day for the lofty fee of 2 Hong Kong dollars a trip (about 15p).

I processed my images of the harbour to look like old faded photographs. This is my way of adding a touch of nostalgia and of referring to the past history of the place. It was quite misty much of the time we were there which adds to the timeless nature of the images.

Whilst making these images I had Martin Becka’s salt prints of Dubai in mind. Becka’s work confounds the viewer. The prints look like old photographs of Dubai, in that they were made using an old photographic process. The reality is that they are modern day images. For me, Becka’s work draws attention to and questions photography’s relationship with truth and objectivity. Becka’s Dubai images were on show last year in Arles and can be viewed here.

My images of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour are below: