rediscovering sheung wan

Sheung Wan is a district on Hong Kong Island that's rapidly transforming from an area well-known for seafood tradesmen and bargain-hunting Chinese shoppers to somewhere now better known for its art galleries, design studios and Bohemian living spaces.

traditional Chinese smoked dried fish for sale

I was commissioned by Holland Herald (the inflight magazine of KLM) to provide images for a forthcoming article on the neighbourhood that was to be written by Nick Walton.

This gave me the opportunity to once again explore a neighbourhood that I usually dash through on my way to assignments or meeting colleagues or clients.

the entrance to Hollywood Road Park

The brief for the article was to provide images to complement the text and to illustrate the themes of the blend of tradition and modernity, Chinese and Western that was to be the focus of the article.

You don't have to go far in Sheung Wan to find great examples of old and new, Chinese and Western, chic and shabby! I started off on Hollywood Road with its art galleries and trendy boutiques and went West from there.

lomography shop, off Hollywood RoadI shot the dried seafood shops of Des Voeux Road and Bonham Strand and walked towards a rare treat in Sheung Wan...green space!

The Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park, on the Victoria Harbour waterfront, is a pleasant - if overly manicured - space for old people to practice their tai-chi, children to use the playgrounds, teenagers to use the basketball courts and couples to have their pre-wedding photo-shoots.

couple having their pictures taken with the Kowloon skyline in the background

Doing the shoot was a great opportunity for me to see how much Sheung Wan has changed since I first worked in the area (I had a studio just off Gough Street between 2007-2009). I think I like the changes but there's no doubt some of the area's traditional residents and shoppers have lost out with the gentrification.

The online version of the article (in which only a few of my images appear) can be read here.

Comments

[jasper]

The building's design are interesting and very creative!