Following my tutor’s advice, I returned to my contact sheets and tightened the edit of the assignment to:
- Try focusing on a single element in the square mile
- Highlight the reasons why these photos are important to me.
I was trying to convey what Hong Kong is to me with the original set of images; and with Hong Kong being a very diverse place, my initial edit was too “widespread” (or as my tutor Simon said eclectic)
In this edit, I have tried to distill down to images with a single denominator -signage.
Signage in Yau Mai Tai through Western Eyes.
Hong Kong is a unique city – with its history where the majority of items are usually displayed in bilingual (Chinese and English). However, in more local areas, Chinese is the predominant language used (naturally) and in this set, I am trying to illustrate from a Westerner perspective, what this signage means to me. The various forms of signage with some downright dodgy in nature reminds me where I am.
Picture 1
“Traders” on streets buying and selling questionable merchandises like expensive alcohol, gadgets are familiar on the streets of Hong Kong. This guy’s reaction is perfect to me as it confirms how I feel about these businesses. The “no photo” reaction together with signs showing bottles brandy etc. set the scene to the viewers.
Picture 2
Real estate is big business in Hong Kong, often destroying local communities in its wake. The torn discarded posters act as a metaphor for how the real estate business goes on with little thought to the community it destroys.
Picture 3
This sign tells me I’m in Hong Kong – where else in the world would there be an official handwritten sign (C.L.P is an electric company) in both Chinese and English. There is also a touch of irony in how it says “Post No Bills” with the touch of “stencil graffiti.”
Picture 4
Massage businesses are common in Hong Kong and the rest of Asia. There is always that doubt of how legitimate an individual parlor is. I feel that the stairs and posters in the shot convey this doubt in a seemingly legitimate establishment.
Picture 5
Handwritten signs in Chinese fascinate me; as I can’t read any Chinese characters – whenever I see them, they raise questions in my head. They are part of what keeps Hong Kong mystery alive to me after six years.
Picture 6
This is a typical generic Asian scene. A small one-man business on the side of the road, not busy, the proprietor in his own world. What adds to it, to make it Hong Kong, is the handwritten sign with the English translation.
Thoughts on reworking
I believe I have achieved what I have set out to do with reworking this assignment. However, there are doubts in my mind about how quickly the viewers can pick up the theme and understand the messages I am trying to convey here.
Working to tell a particular story has been quite a challenge for me – while I rarely doubt my ability on the technical side, I sometimes question my artistic and aesthetic flare.
I have also re-cropped all the images to a 3:2 ratio, trying to keep them more aligned, which also doubt my inclusion of the portrait format image for this particular assignment.
I hope the rework has an improved outcome. It’s still not perfect, but it gives me a few good pointers for the next assignment, which I am beginning to shoot.
1st August 2015 – Tutor Response.
“Hi Pete,
Yes, I think the re-work definitely tightens up and improves the work. Re your concerns over the portrait image, I think it is quite legitimate to mix landscape and portrait orientations. You could still crop into the image on the right hand side to bring it more into line with the aspect ratio of the other images and yeast still convey what you want.
Regards
Simon”
Very happy with this response from Simon – gives me a good basis for moving forward.