Tony Blackwell, 'THE KISS'
50 × 75 × 1 cm 
Ilford Galerie Prestige GF Gloss
Edition 2/10+2AP 
$798
 
The first time I flew into Hong Kong, was in the 80s. We landed at Kai Tak airport, an altogether exciting experience which unfortunately is unavailable to intrepid global travellers these days. I’ve subsequently made half a dozen trips to Hong Kong, most of those being short stop-overs on the way to, or from, other destinations.  
  
Then there’s this trip - for which I gave myself just under a fortnight to try to capture the essence of at least some of the remaining characteristics that typify my favourite photographer, Fan Ho’s work from the mid 50s, but necessarily in its contemporised context. The plan was to explore Hong Kong’s outer-island fishing villages seeking a form of development which arguably would not have changed all that much, at least in scale, since Fan Ho’s time. However, whilst I specifically chose this time of year to try to get a balance between atmospheric conditions (eg fog) and access to sunlight. The latter wasn’t to be the case. So instead, I redirected some of my attention to bars and back alleys since they aren’t so constrained by inclement weather conditions. This is another shot from that trip.  
 
 
I am by occupation a designer, yet photography and music have been two other passions that have accompanied me throughout my life. However, I decided at an early age, around the time I was leaving school and having to make one of my first ‘executive decisions’, ie what to do with my life, that I would never be a great musician. Instead, I decided to endeavour to capture some of the raw emotion as expressed through music in a different medium. This led me to spending roughly half a decade moonlighting as a rock ‘n’ roll photographer, until the responsibilities of parenthood finally put an end to it all and forced a decision to focus solely on my design career. 
 
Notwithstanding there is an appreciation of the ‘aesthetic’ that continues to run through everything in my life, and I marvel at how this can stir the emotions. As such my hankering to capture ‘odd moments and emotions’ has never been quenched. I had a one-man exhibition in 2024 at Gallows Gallery (Perth) titled “ECHOES BEYOND THE NIGHT – Rock ‘n’ Roll Photos from the 70s and 80s” which was all about those early photos. I also published a book by the same name through Halstead Press (Sydney and Canberra). I’m due to release a second book titled “A BRIEF LOVE AFFAIR – Hong Kong Bars and Back Alleys” through EastPro Publishers (Hong Kong) later this year (2025).