How Magnum photographer Bruno Barbey’s China book changed Hong Kong museum founder Douglas So’s life
- Frenchman Bruno Barbey documented China’s rise over a period of 40 years from the 1970s, as shown in his book China: From Mao to Modernity
- In 2015, he gave a copy of the book to Douglas So, founder of F11 Foto Museum in Hong Kong, and it inspired him to embrace curiosity and cultural diversity
Bruno Barbey’s China: From Mao to Modernity (2015) is a collection of the late French Magnum photographer’s images of China, from his first visit in 1973, until 2013, portraying the country’s vigorous social and economic development.
Douglas So, founder of F11 Foto Museum in Happy Valley and f22 Foto Space at The Peninsula Hong Kong, chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board and former executive director of charities at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, tells Richard Lord how it changed his life.
My passion for photography has grown since I started collecting more than two decades ago. It is a medium which speaks to me.
It was a pleasure to have known Bruno Barbey as a friend. I have always loved his work.
I met him for the first time in 2014, when he visited F11 Foto Museum in Happy Valley. He came to Hong Kong again in 2015 as he was promoting this book, and I invited him for a collaboration in organising an exhibition at F11 Foto Museum. We soon became friends and we enjoyed taking photos together.
I was always impressed by his passion and dedication to photography. I once joined Bruno for an excursion to Tai O during the Dragon Boat Festival. We started rather early, at 9am, and Bruno, in his 70s, seized every opportunity until the very last light to capture images that fascinated him.