Capturing Hong Kong’s disappearing architecture with Stefan Irvine.
Every week, artist and entrepreneur Oscar Venhuis talks with fellow artists, curators, collectors and gallerists in Asia. The Last Supper podcast is available on Spotify, Apple podcast, Google podcast.
Photographer Stefan Irvine
Episode 2 | After graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a Master's Degree in Psychology, Stefan Irvine went on to receive a Post-Graduate Diploma in Photojournalism from the University of the Arts London (formerly "LCP"). Since moving to Hong Kong in 2002, Stefan has spent the last few years revealing the disappearing architecture of Hong Kong.
His work has been published in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Geographic and has been shown in New York, London and Hong Kong. Stefan is the winner of the Independent on Sunday/Oxfam Photojournalist Award and his series on Tong Lau architecture was awarded 1st place at the International Photography Awards (IPA) 2020.
Top: Ki Lung Street, Sham Shui Po (2014), Middle: To Kwa Wan Road (2014), Bottom: Shanghai Street, Mongkok (2015). Photos courtesy of Stefan Irvine.
Stefan’s project exposes the super-wide Tong Lau’s (唐樓) of Hong Kong, a Cantonese term for tenement architecture that was favoured throughout southern China for both residential and commercial use. In conjunction with post-production expert Jörg Dietrich, his photographs invite the observer to recede and take a moment to experience the full magnitude of an entire concrete apartment block that has supported many kinships.
The depiction and meticulous documentation of the Tong Lau’s decay serves as a significant historical artefact. Although there is some interest in conserving Hong Kong’s tenement architecture, many neighbourhoods have been demolished and have been replaced by high-rise redevelopment. How the destruction impacts the closely connected and symbiotic communities of generation-old shops and residents is yet to be seen.
Stefan Irvine Photography
Website: www.stefanirvine.photo | Instagram: @stefan.irvine
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'The Last Supper' is produced and hosted by Oscar Venhuis | Instagram @thelastsupper.asia
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