Vanishing Hong Kong: photo book records ‘grandeur’ of its working-class neighbourhoods
- Japan-based couple’s book is a love letter to city’s traditional districts and a protest against their systematic destruction in the name of modernism
- ‘What is taking place in Hong Kong is a metaphor for the decay of the human condition,’ writes co-author in introduction
A quote attributed to Confucius, “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it”, could apply to many parts of Hong Kong, a city where shiny skyscrapers often distract the eye from the older, traditional structures in their shadows.
It often takes outside observers to remind Hongkongers of the charms of the city’s grittier corners – observers such as photographer Naoko Inagaki Krell and journalist Gene Krell, who deliver just such a reminder with their new photo book, Footsteps in Silence.
Hidden details in historic Hong Kong photos revealed
The book is a love letter to Hong Kong’s traditional working-class districts and the people living in them; the photos focus on old-school businesses such as teahouses and barber shops, and decaying architecture in urban neighbourhoods such as Sham Shui Po and To Kwa Wan.
Inagaki Krell is an installation artist and photographer who specialises in documenting the lives of the working class, while Krell is international fashion director for Conde Nast Japan’s publications, including Vogue and GQ. The husband-and-wife duo live in Tokyo and started the Footsteps in Silence project almost a decade ago, since when they have made several visits to Hong Kong.
