(Camera: Sony A55) Hong Kong has have lots of these Mainland Chinese visiting on any day of the year since its return to China. For one thing, the way they lavished money on the pleasurable things (and effectively turning the big-brand name flag shops along Canton Road in Kowloon into de facto RMB deposit-taking companies -- look at the queues!) and more importantly in the property market has brought Hong Kong among the firsts coming out unscathed from the financial tsunami.
But among some of them, the spitting, sitting and squatting at improper places, the loud-speaking, queue- jumping and letting young children peep and poop on the street, to name a few, have brought steady cultural shocks to the Hongkongers every single time these behaviours are noticed.
Maybe the new year wish is that the Hong Kong way of conducts can be preserved for as long a period as possible.
Comments
As an observer wandering in the street, capturing some real pictures and the sketch of people’s lives, I am supposed to unhook the the bias, which were accumulated bit by bit from Western viewpoints or to treat those Chinese people,in stead, with a broader understanding while China is experiencing an unprecedented transition. I sometimes get myself confused !
By the way, I notice that you shoot things with Sony A55 lately. I just wondering that how do you pack up your gears and what cameras will you take when you are doing the street photography.
Best regards,
Tony Wang
Thank you for the comments. The effort to phrase them carefully is especially appreciated.
I have sometimes found myself using the observer’s approach as you mentioned. But without excluding other options, I can also be attracted by a scene because there is something to say about it. Whether this is called a theme or mindset, the final image expresses a message from the eye of me as a photographer. In this case, I might be biased even though similar scenes of unpleasant behaviours (which are not representative of just any visitors from Mainland China) simply sprang up to mind when I noticed this scene. On second thought, my comments in the post are somewhat generalised. I am surely pretty friendly to any visitors asking for directions in the street though.
How do I pack my gear for any day? What a good question and I haven’t really thought about it! For one thing, the gear must be fitting in weight for the day (I can’t carry around the A55 to work, for example). Another consideration is the capability to cover the expectedly useful focal lengths; so I sometimes bring more than one cameras/ a DSLR with two lenses, situations permitting, with me. The third factor is the time and weather of the shooting day. I should think further and write it in a post.
Have a nice day!
Best,
Nevin