Graffiti Hong Kong Style

(Camera: Ricoh A12 28mm)

Among the many creative ways to put up an ad for free in Hong Kong, writing or stamping ads on the external walls of buildings is probably unique in Hong Kong. Interestingly, as if ruled by an unspoken agreement, these ads on the walls are invariably about plumbing, disinfestation and household appliances repair services. The most well known of them is the plumber's ad. An example is the one close to the right margin of the above image. The two big Chinese characters say, "Clearing Blocked-Drains"

The plumber's ad is so ubiquitous that, if you know Chinese, you may have the impression that Hong Kong has tons of blocked drains. Does this make the plumber's ad famous?

Nope. It is because of one person, Stephen Chow.

An actor, screenwriter, film director and producer, Stephen has produced numerous blockbuster comedy movies which won him several movie awards and grossed great proceeds in Hong Kong, China and from most Chinese speaking communities. It is he who gave birth to a special genre of acting called "mo lei tou" (or silly-billy). The comparable English equivalent may be Austin Powers.
(Stephen Chow>)

His movies have been so popular in China that students learn by rote the dialogue lines in some of them. The author has a Beijing friend who is now a professor in children's education. She once recited the lines to the author which lasted for over a minute.

So in one of his movies, a scene showing the plumber's ad somehow arouse the interest of the audience in China. With millions of millions of population, the plumber's ad attracted much attention and lots of discussions.

These graffiti kind of ads proliferate in old districts like Sheung Wan, Yau Ma Tei and Kwun Tong. Take the MTR train to there.

Comments

A Real Hero

(Grip On Reality: This photo was taken on my way to work. I was walking past trucks parking on a cul-de-sac when the ropes caught my attention. The light was right, the colour was right and the criss-crossing pattern was perfect and I held up my GX200. People passing by checked me out and wondered what could be made out of such a boring scene. To me, the fun in photography is that the photographer makes something interesting out of what is not obvious to most at the scene. The ropes tied in knots somehow reminded people I know who are in the grip of the recession) You must have also known a friend or two, or even yourself, being baffled by the spiral downturn of the economy. Bank went bankrupt and the rich was faced with a shrinking wealth. A friend of mine has just had his salary cut by over 10% and some of his colleagues started to be shed. But, wait. Was this done really for the sake of continuing the business? Or is there a factor or greed in it? I wonder whether the

New Low Prices

The window shopping some hours ago has almost provoked my AgIDS illness. Just in case you’re in Hong Kong or are coming here, and have the money to burn (All in HK$/ body only): GX200 = $3,280 GRD2 = $3,380 LX3 = $3,180 G10 = $3,280 Prices are available form a gear shop on the 1st floor of the Mongkok Computer Centre. Besides these new low prices, I found that Wing Shing Photo (55-57Sai Yeung Choi St., MK Tel: 2396 6886/ 91-95 Fa Yuen St., MK Tel: 2396 6885) is offering a Sony A700 + Carl Zeiss Lens package for HK$9,980 (hopefully, a bargain will make it some hundreds cheaper).

Eye Contact

(Leica D-lux 5) The digital era may make it easier to end up with fave shots. Even lousy photos may be turned likable after a few clicks in the post-processing workflow. But if digital advancement or amendments have any bearing on the cultivation of personal style, no photographers will need to discover his or her own photographer’s eye. Undoutedly, this is out of the question. Only with a trained photographer’s eye can we give a thinking gaze and capture an eternal moment, in our unique style. Style is the soul of a great photo. A few posts have been written in GXG to touch on the topic of photographer’s eye. Instead of finding an answer, which would require academic discussions, the posts are intended to give my general reflections and spark interests in moving towards further exploration of the topic. The posts can be viewed after the links: 1) Photographer's Eye: Storytelling 2) Photographer's Eye: Little Show of Observing 3) Photographer's Eye: Sight-Worthy 4

GX GARNERINGS

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