What the Mongkok street scenes epitomise is just how hectic Hong Kong is.
The never-ceasing influx of people ebbs along pavements, wiggling in and out of side streets either with haste or leisure. Across the metal fences, uniform flow of red taxis, battered lorries and mini vans shuffle and halt, spitting fumes and grunting.
Beneath eye-splitting neon signs and fading facades of industrial edifices, the only refuge for motionlessness is conglomerates of individuals crowding behind bus stop signposts – even then you can see their patience running out, from mindless fidgets and bellows down mobile phones.
Behind the lens
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I picked the bus stop signpost as a focus fixation point while capturing the street scene unfolding on both of its sides. Not only does my choice one of that spring from nostalgia, since its iconic look has stayed with me throughout my childhood growing up in Hong Kong, but also how the alignment of posts seem to – almost – symmetrically divide the image, creating a barrier between pedestrians and vehicles.
The fast movement of passerby – yes, people do walk fast in Hong Kong! – had to be captured with a relatively fast shutter speed (1/1000 sec) whilst the dimmer lighting, under the shade of overhead buildings, had to be compensated with a generous ISO-250 – even on a day of bright blue skies.
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