photographer Martin Parr had a packed schedule during his two-week visit to Hong Kong last year. Commissioned by Blindspot Gallery, he travelled all over the city, visiting places such as Ocean Park, Happy Valley Racecourse and Wong Tai Sin Temple to capture his artistic impressions of the city.
A selection of 52 images from the project, which features Parr's satirical narrative on contemporary living, is now on show at Blindspot Gallery in Wong Chuk Hang, alongside works from his previous series "The Last Resort" (1983-85) and "Luxury" (1995 to the present) which helped to make his name.
"I'm always trying to explore the contradictions of modern society. I don't go to wars or famine. I'm interested in photographing the wealthy world that we all live in," says the 62-year-old, who studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic in the 1970s.
"Our world is getting wealthier and that's an issue as well as being a good thing, as there are problems that arise in the wake of that. But I'm trying to illustrate the leisure time and the welfare activities of this new world."
China is a good place to examine this theme, he says. "There's no better place for mainlanders to come and spend their money than Hong Kong. There are issues about that — it's not so straightforward — and that to me is one of the starting points for this recent exploration."
One of Parr's favourite photos shows a queue of mainlanders outside a Louis Vuitton shop on Canton Road. Parr also explored how the property market works here by visiting show apartments and speaking to property agents.