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Kylie Knott

Pioneering Hong Kong photographer Mak Fung was a master of his craft, an artist who possessed the ability to capture both the ordinary and the extraordinary.
Born in 1918, the self-taught photographer played a key role in documenting the cityscape throughout the second half of the 20th century.
But his work is underrated, says Tung-pui Lau, founder of PhotogStory, a photography platform that this month hosts an exhibition of Fung’s images.
“Hong Kong Once Was: 1946-1980”, taking place at EastPro Gallery in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay neighbourhood from December 7-21, comprises more than 20 gelatin silver black-and-white prints.

It is a captivating collection taken from the 1946 to the 1990s, and shows parts of Hong Kong often overlooked by photographers at that time.
One image, taken in the 1960s in Tai O, a small fishing village on Lantau Island, shows salted fish drying.
A decade later he photographed a peddler in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok neighbourhood, the scene also reflecting the transport and fashions of the time.


Examples of Hong Kong’s colonial architecture, such as the Hong Kong Club Building and third-generation General Post Office, were also framed by Fung. Both Victorian buildings, located in Central, were demolished in the 1980s, making Fung’s images important reminders of the city’s evolving landscape.
“Much of Hong Kong’s colonial architecture has been demolished, which is why these photos resonate so much with people, as it allows them to look back on what the city once looked like,” Lau says.
While photos of buildings feature heavily in the exhibition, it is clear Fung was also a master of capturing human emotions.


“What he did best was capture the grass-roots person – the realistic side of the city and its people,” says Lau, who has been studying Fung’s work for several years.
Fung’s eye for light and composition is best seen in Aberdeen, a photo taken in 1958 in the former fishing village on the south of Hong Kong Island.
The photo shows a man, woman and child walking along a street in different directions in a simple shot elevated by shadow composition on a wall.
The image is reminiscent of the striking black-and-white street photography of Fan Ho, who captured Hong Kong around the same time as Fung.
Known for his pioneering use of light and shadow, Ho – nicknamed “the great master” – has received much attention over the years. Lau says it is Fung’s turn in the spotlight.

“Like Ho, Fung skilfully played with shadows and light that proved he is a master photographer.”
Lau says the exhibition’s title mirrors Fung’s 1997 photo book of the same name. Hong Kong Once Was was Fung’s first book. He released Hong Kong Photographers in 2010.
Before turning professional, Fung dabbled in photography from a small darkroom in his home, feeding his creative needs that might have been neglected in his job as an accountant at a cotton mill.
Taking photographs was not his only strength: he also wrote about them in various publications such as Photoart and the monthly Photography Express.

He also wrote for Photo Pictorial which, at the time, was Hong Kong’s longest running photography magazine. Fung was managing editor from 1964-1974 and chief editor from 1974-1986, Lau says.
“It would be fair to say that Fung pioneered local photographic writing,” says Lau. “He really brought the subject to a wider audience.”
Fung died in 2009 but his images live on, providing a nostalgic snapshot of a much changed city.
Also part of the exhibition is a talk on Fung’s life and work by Sylvia Ng, former chief editor of Photo Pictorial. It will take place at the gallery on December 14 from 3pm-4pm.
Mak Fung Photo Exhibition Hong Kong Once Was: 1946-1980s, December 7-21, 2024, 2.30pm-7pm (Wed-Fri), 2.30pm-6pm (weekends), EastPro Gallery, 9A, Hyde Centre, 223 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay.


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 A peddler in Mong Kok, a photograher taken by Mak Fung in 1970. Photo: Mak Fung

Mak Fung’s Central, taken in the 1960s, serves as a reminder of how the city once looked. It is one of more than 20 images featured in Hong Kong Once Was: 1946-1980s, at EastPro Gallery until December 21. Photo: Mak Fung

Hong Kong photographer Mak Fung, who died in 2009, is the subject of a new exhibition. Photo: Photo Pictorial

Fung’s Drying salted fish in Tai O, taken in the 1960s, features at the exhibition. Photo: Mak Fung

Fung’s A peddler in Mong Kok, captured the ever-changing fashions in Hong Kong in 1970. Photo: Mak Fung

Fung’s General Post Office (1973) captured a grand example of Hong Kong Victorian architecture before it was demolished. Photo: Mak Fung

Fung’s St. George’s Building (1959). Photo: Mak Fung

in Aberdeen (1958), Fung shows his mastery of shadow composition and light. Photo: Mak Fung

Tung-pui Lau, founder of PhotogStory, has studied Fung’s work for several years. Photo: Felix Wong

Explore Fan Ho’s iconic Portrait of Hong Kong photos from his final book project

“In Deep Thought”. Photo: Fan Ho / Blue Lotus Gallery

“Quarter to Four” is an example of Fan Ho’s use of natural light in his photography. Photo: Fan Ho / Blue Lotus Gallery. 

“The Last Beam” from award-winning photographer Fan Ho’s final book project, “Portrait of Hong Kong”. Photo: Fan Ho / Blue Lotus Gallery

“Thriving Market”. Fan Ho’s last book showcases a more documentary style of photography compared with the stylised street scenes of 1930s to 1960s Hong Kong for which he was known. Photo: Fan Ho / Blue Lotus Gallery

“Surreal Sai Wan” is one of many of Ho’s photos that remind us how much Hong Kong has developed since the 1950s and 60s. Photo: Fan Ho / Blue Lotus Gallery

“The Young Punter”. For his final endeavour the celebrated photographer went through his extensive archive of negatives to compile a series of work that had not previously been published. Photo: Fan Ho / Blue Lotus Gallery

“In Deep Thought”. In 2015 Fan Ho selected about 500 old negatives from his archive for his last book “Portrait of Hong Kong” which he then cropped in his signature style. Photo: Fan Ho / Blue Lotus Gallery

“Dancing Canopies”. After Fan Ho’s death in June 2016 it took another year for the book project to be completed. Photo: Fan Ho / Blue Lotus Gallery

“Balance”. The images chosen for “Portrait of Hong Kong” feel closer to a pure street photography style compared to his previous approach. Photo: Fan Ho / Blue Lotus Gallery

“Master Craftsman”. Fan Ho’s works can be found in private and public collections around the world, including the M+ Museum (Hong Kong), Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Bibliothèque National de France, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Santa Barbara Museum of Art (USA). Photo: Fan Ho / Blue Lotus Gallery

Hong Kong art photography fair cancelled months ahead of its 2025 debut

Visitors attend the 2018 edition of Photofairs Shanghai, the city where the photographic art fair began in 2014 and where it will again be held in 2025. Plans for a Hong Kong edition of the fair in 2025 have been scrapped. Photo: Handout

Visitors view works on show at Art021, an art fair held in Hong Kong for the first time in 2024 and which received a subsidy of HK$15 million (US$1.9 million) from the government’s Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund. Photo: Elson Li

Visitors throng the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on the first day of Art Basel Hong Kong 2024. Photo: Eugene Lee

Chinese migrants’ letters home, from happy to heartbreaking, on display at museum

Filled with sorrow, joy and reflections on politics and events, letters to loved ones written by Teochew migrants from Chaoshan in southern China are on display at the Qiaopi Museum in Shantou, Guangdong. Photo: Mabel Lui

A display at the Qiaopi Museum – also called the Qiaopi Cultural Relics Museum, or the Museum of Overseas Remittance Mail Relics – in Shantou. Photo: Mabel Lui

One of the remittance letters on display at the Qiaopi Museum. Photo: Mabel Lui

In one letter shown at the museum, the Chinese character for “difficulty” is written boldly in black ink. Photo: Mabel Lui

Qiaopi refers to the family correspondence and remittance letters that were sent to China during the 19th and 20th centuries by Teochew emigrants who moved overseas. Photo: Mabel Lui 

Young naked women are their canvas – nude art of 2 anonymous Hong Kong artists challenges city’s conservative attitudes towards sex

Lousy’s body paint on a nude woman. The anonymous Hong Kong graffiti artist paints bold designs on young, naked women then photographs them in erotic poses. Photo: Lousy                                                         

Another of Lousy’s “kissfaces”, on Queen’s Road West in Hong Kong. Photo: Lousy

Lousy’s photobook “Yook”, published in 2020. Photo: Lousy

Matsushimaon’s body art on a nude woman. Photo: Matsushimaon

Professor Sonia Wong says there is not a lot of space in erotic or explicit artistic disciplines for women to express their sexuality, especially in Hong Kong. Photo: Professor Sonia Wong

Artist Lousy’s portrait. Photo: Lousy

Lifestyle

Arts & Culture

Mak Fung, a self-taught photographer who shot scenes of Hong Kong and city life, has been underrated until now, exhibition curator says


Mak Fung, a self-taught photographer who shot scenes of Hong Kong and city life, has been underrated until now, exhibition curator says.


Photography

Old Hong Kong