Fan of public housing photography chronicles Hong Kong’s old estates where life was simpler ... and more spacious
William Leung’s award-winning works offer glimpse into community life and human interaction among residents that is fast disappearing in city’s urban sprawl
It has been 22 years since William Leung Wai-yum first set foot on Wah Fu Estate in Hong Kong’s Southern district.
Having visited the public housing estate many times, the 38-year-old hobbyist still finds the neighbourhood fascinating.
“You will see different things when you come at different times of the day or in different seasons,” he said, citing the century-long tradition of dragon dance performances in the district during the Mid-Autumn Festival as an example. “It is one of the several public housing estates that I stop by at regularly.”
Leung, who works in the exhibition industry, began touring public housing estates across the city in the 1990s.
He has visited over 200 estates and taken more than 200,000 photos of residential blocks, chronicling the changes in Hong Kong’s public housing schemes that now accommodate about 2 million people, or 30 per cent of the city’s population.
It all started in his teens when Leung, who was not a public housing resident, wanted to see estates slated for demolition. Armed with just a map and his father’s camera, he embarked on excursions by bus throughout the city.