Hong Kong’s MTR as never before seen, in images Stanley Kubrick inspired of ‘liminal spaces’ on the subway network
- The city’s subway system looks dystopian in the still, empty images Christopher Button shot late at night when its stations are quiet
- ‘It’s not always what you see that scares you but what you don’t,’ the photographer says of the images, which will appear in a book and go on show this month
In his latest exhibition “The Labyrinth”, photographer Christopher Button plays with your mind, his images at once comforting and creepy, familiar and strange – all while conveying a sense of peace and solitude in Hong Kong’s usually hectic MTR stations.
“I’ve been doing a lot of research on the strangeness of ‘liminal spaces’ and how they can create a feeling of unease and also nostalgia,” says Button, referring to the threshold between two points, signalling the end of one time or space and the beginning of another.
“What I want to present is an image of a place that is still and quiet and ambiguous. An empty space that can be filled by the viewer and their thoughts. It’s not always what you see that scares you but what you don’t.
“This is something that Stanley Kubrick did so well,” says Button, referring to the American film director behind movies such as The Shining (1980), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), who was a master of symmetrical framing and who greatly influenced Button.
“Kubrick’s aesthetic is something I’ve studied meticulously, especially during my film studies degree, and it greatly informs my work,” says British-born Button, whose show will be held at the Blue Lotus Gallery in Sheung Wan from September 10 to October 10.