The streets and markets of Hong Kong emerge through stark contrasts, carefully arranged figures and suspended moments in an exhibition dedicated to Fan Ho, one of Asia’s most important street photographers. “Geometries of Light and Shadow. Life and Stories in Hong Kong Through Fan Ho’s Gaze” is being presented at Palazzo Falletti di Barolo in Turin through January 10.
Produced by Ares in collaboration with Hong Kong’s Blue Lotus Gallery, the exhibition brings together more than 100 photographs selected by curators Elisa Maupas and Sarah Van Ingelgom. In its first month and a half, the show attracted more than 13,000 visitors, while over 1,000 catalogues published by Dario Cimorelli Editore were sold.
Light is central to Fan Ho’s visual language. In his powerful black-and-white compositions, it filters through openings, frames his subjects and gives shape to otherwise empty spaces. Street photography, abstraction and scenes of everyday life alternate throughout the exhibition, which presents Hong Kong as a city marked by work, routine and change.
Fan Ho was born in Shanghai in 1931 and moved with his family to Hong Kong at the age of 18. He became known as a chronicler of the city during the 1950s and 1960s and was sometimes described as the “Cartier-Bresson of the East” because of his pursuit of the decisive moment. The main body of his photographic work was produced before he turned 28.
Porters, street vendors and children at play are among the recurring figures in his images. Rather than simply documenting a city in transition, his photographs seek to convey the resilience of its inhabitants and the effort embedded in everyday life. Backlighting and chiaroscuro create smoky atmospheres, with pale figures appearing from the darkness and dark silhouettes emerging from the half-light.
The images were also shaped in the darkroom. After taking the photograph, Fan Ho retouched prints and cropped negatives to remove unnecessary elements, emphasize details and intensify tonal contrasts. His work therefore combined the anticipation of the right moment with a deliberate process of visual construction.
According to curator Elisa Maupas, Fan Ho first selected the location, studied how light and shadow moved during the day, and then waited for a person to enter the frame and trigger an event. In the darkroom, he further modeled the light to create narrative rhythm, drama and the cinematic atmosphere characteristic of his photography.
Fan Ho also worked in cinema as an actor and later as a director before retiring at the age of 65. He died in 2016. The curators say his photographs continue to connect with different generations and places by transforming documentary observation into poetry, and the street into a space of emotion, memory and imagination.
Sources: ANSA Cultura.