Fan Ho
1931–2016 · China / Hong Kong
Sculpting the city with shadow.
The story
Fan Ho photographed Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s with a particular attention to light, silhouettes and relationships of scale. Streets, markets and passageways combine everyday observation with strong graphic construction. He also worked in cinema. The city he represents is more than architecture: the movements of human figures give its spaces their rhythm and sensory qualities.
Understanding the work
Look at the direction of the light and the dark surfaces. Sometimes tiny, the figures make the space legible and turn an almost abstract geometric construction into an inhabited scene with its own rhythms of time.
Key works and series
Approaching Shadow; Hong Kong Yesterday; street photographs of Hong Kong.
