Exploring Hong Kong
4 min read Dec 31, 2018
Hong Kong is a perplexing, remarkable city. It’s the chaotic amalgamation of extremes: British colonialism and Chinese culture, dense uninhabited jungle and tightly packed skyscrapers, old-world values and modern technology. There’s an unending energy that envelops the city and keeps it right on the precipice between order and utter disarray.
In cities like Paris and Tokyo, I’m an observer. The city is the host organism allowing me to travel within it, but always reminding me in small ways that I’m alien. In Hong Kong, I was immediately accepted. I traveled its streets, trains, hills, and escalators, never once feeling like I didn’t belong.
Hong Kong hasn’t tried to distill its identity into a clear image but instead accepted that their identity is full of contradictions and gray areas.
It’s like the surface of the earth. Layer upon layer of cultural sediment has built up. In some neighborhoods, I could only see the newest layer: international chain stores, imported cars, foreign tourists. In others, artifacts spanning a century of history live side by side like the layers of rock on a seaside cliff. That juxtaposition of old and new was most evident in Kowloon, where decades-old neon signs still survive alongside brighter, cheaper, factory-made LED signs.
Hong Kong is hands down my favorite city to walk through and photograph. The photos that follow capture my perspective of Hong Kong on a few days in May 2018.
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/60 · ISO
2500
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/4 · 1/15 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/60 · ISO
800
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/1.7 · 1/1000 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/60 · ISO
250
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/7.1 · 1/60 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/2 · 1/125 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/15 · ISO
250
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/8 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/9 · 1/60 · ISO
1000
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/60 · ISO
2000
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/5 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/9 · 1/60 · ISO
160
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/7.1 · 1/60 · ISO
400
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/6.3 · 1/80 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/5 · 1/60 · ISO
2500
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/1.7 · 1/100 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/10 · 1/60 · ISO
1600
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/60 · ISO
250
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/2.5 · 1/60 · ISO
1250
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/11 · 1/60 · ISO
10000
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/3.2 · 1/60 · ISO
2000
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/4 · ISO
250
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/1.7 · 1/200 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/3.2 · 1/60 · ISO
4000
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/7.1 · 1/100 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/60 · ISO
800
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/5 · 1/640 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/3.5 · 1/60 · ISO
640
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/11 · 1/60 · ISO
1250
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/5.6 · 1/800 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/60 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/9 · 1/60 · ISO
500
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/6.3 · 1/60 · ISO
320
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/10 · 1/60 · ISO
320
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/80 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/1.7 · 1/320 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/7.1 · 1/60 · ISO
640
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/2.8 · 1/80 · ISO
100
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/16 · 1/60 · ISO
6400
Hong Kong · Leica Q · f/8 · 5 · ISO
100
