Bobby Yip’s photo book ‘As Life Goes on, Portraits amidst the Pandemic’ pictures how Hongkongers move forward
- The former photojournalist at Reuters discusses how his most recent project, published last month, is different from his coverage of the 2003 Sars outbreak
- Every week, Talking Points gives you a worksheet to practise your reading comprehension with questions and exercises about the story we’ve written
Bobby Yip’s photo book features Hongkongers from all walks of life. Photo: K.Y. ChengDuring the Sars outbreak in 2003, Bobby Yip Ying-kit, a news photographer, was all over Hong Kong at all hours, documenting cordoned off buildings, exhausted medical staff and worried residents on the streets.
“I took pictures where the news happened. I went to hospitals, taking photos of doctors and patients, and even funerals,” he said, referring to the funeral of Joanna Tse Yuen-man – a young doctor who contracted severe acute respiratory syndrome after treating infected patients at a public hospital.
Nineteen years later, the 59-year-old has captured another pandemic, but this time, at a more deliberate pace. A collaboration with commercial photographer Benny Ng and cinematographer Gordon Leung, Yip’s photo book, As Life Goes on, Portraits amidst the Pandemic, was published last month.
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Before he became a seasoned photojournalist, Yip studied photography at a vocational training centre in his early 20s. After graduating, he worked for a few local papers before joining Reuters, one of the world’s largest international news agencies, in 1990.
In his 28 years there, he covered major events such as Hong Kong’s handover in 1997 and the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, and even attended a military parade in North Korea in 2013.
After leaving the agency in 2018, Yip has carried on recording how the city continues to change.
“Even though I’m not in the industry any more, I still love taking photos,” he explained.
“I watched a lot of news and read the papers in 2020. The news that we were used to seeing was about frantic mask buying, unemployment, long queues, vegetable shortages ... [But] I wanted to see the bigger picture.”
The photographer had an idea to gather Hongkongers from all walks of life in front of a camera for a set of portraits. Instead of showcasing their hardship and struggles under the Covid-19 pandemic, he wanted to focus on people’s courage in adapting to the new normal.
“Of course, we cannot go back to the past, but life still goes on. So I wanted to find out what helped them [my subjects] to keep moving forward,” Yip said.
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Last year, he spent eight months gathering 30 groups of people to pose for his photo book.
The pictures capture people from diverse backgrounds, including construction workers and flight attendants forced to leave their jobs, medical staff and parents committed to their duties, and musicians and restaurant owners who found ways to transform.
Yip also encountered people who, under the pandemic, realised they did not want to take what they had for granted and chose to pursue their true passions. Eric, a tour guide featured in the book, completed a master’s degree during the pandemic, and now he has left Hong Kong to use his new knowledge to lead tours elsewhere.
For Yip, the most memorable photo he took was of four domestic helpers, who were among the most vulnerable people under the pandemic, he said.
“Their employers now spend a lot more time at home because of work-from-home arrangements and online learning, so they [domestic workers] have zero rest time,” said Yip, who noted in his book that their biggest wish was to reunite with loved ones in their home countries.
However gloomy the pandemic has been, the artist has searched for hope at every twist and turn.
The final photo in the book features a mother-to-be.
“During the pandemic, a lot of people passed away, but there’s a lot of new hope as well. Why do people still want to give birth during these turbulent times?” asked the photographer.
“[The pregnant woman] told me her baby gave her a goal in life,” Yip said, noting that she gave birth three days after the photo shoot.
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No longer rushed by the fast-paced demands of the news cycle, Yip adopted a different approach to his photo book. Instead of using a digital camera which can take countless pictures at no cost, he used a film camera, which requires more time to process, making every frame more precious.
Before every shoot, he chatted with his subjects, learning their stories and building connections.
“There is more communication during the process ... [It] is very different from what I used to do,” Yip said, comparing his unhurried work now to his photojournalist days when speed was a priority.
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To guide viewers towards focusing on the subject’s expressions and poses, he chose to use black-and-white film for his project. Colours were distracting, he said.
Compared to the days of Sars, Yip felt the Covid-19 pandemic had brought a greater sense of alienation, but he wanted his photos to remind Hongkongers to have hope.
“The period is very long ... but what matters is how people still keep calm and do what they love,” he said.
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