The Star Ferry plying Victoria Harbour, a resilient symbol of Hong Kong since 1888
Photography- Palani Mohan celebrates ‘these eight minutes of quiet’ sailing between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon in an essay of digitally manipulated photographs
Founded in 1888, Hong Kong’s Star Ferry is among the city’s oldest forms of public transport, attracting commuters and tourists alike.
Since tunnels and the MTR made the crossing of Victoria Harbour faster and more convenient, these historic boats have seen a decline in usage, and with passenger numbers plummeting during the Covid-19 pandemic, questions have been raised about whether the service’s days are numbered.
But much like the city itself, the Star Ferry has proven its resilience. The Japanese invasion in 1941 interrupted the service for a record 44 months.
But while strikes, bomb scares, political turmoil and typhoons have all disrupted passage, these eight minutes of quiet, the boats putting along between two of the most densely populated areas on Earth, remain as much a motif of Hong Kong as any of its other, less soporific symbols.
Here, Post Magazine presents a series of digitally altered photographs taken by Palani Mohan over the past few years.
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