A review by rhodered
Hong Kong Yesterday by John A. Bennette, Fan Ho
4.0
Bought this after I tripped over a few of Fan Ho's old black and white photos of Hong Kong on Pinterest. Tracked him down to discover he took these as a young teenager in the 1950s. Before he won 280 photography awards and became a big time film director.
His talent as a kid was clearly stunning. But the reason I loved this was as a historic document, showing typical lower class life on the streets of Hong Kong just before it truly globalized and joined the 20th century. It feels a bit like NYC street photography from the 1930s.
I left it out during a party and came back into the room to discover my guests transfixed by it. Everyone loves this book.
His talent as a kid was clearly stunning. But the reason I loved this was as a historic document, showing typical lower class life on the streets of Hong Kong just before it truly globalized and joined the 20th century. It feels a bit like NYC street photography from the 1930s.
I left it out during a party and came back into the room to discover my guests transfixed by it. Everyone loves this book.