This is a local visit to Blue Lotus Gallery, to explore the work of the photographer Fan Ho, whose work has been the subject of many exhibitions in the past. The Gallery Director, Sarah Greene, has kindly agreed to conduct this presentation in person.

Fan Ho, nicknamed ‘the great master’ earned his fame as one of Asia’s most beloved street photographers capturing Hong Kong in the 50s and 60s.

Fan Ho’s photographic career started in Shanghai at the early age of 14 when given his first Kodak Brownie for his birthday from his father. Within the first year he won his first award. In 1949, the family moved to Hong Kong where the young Fan Ho continued pursuing his love for photography. At the age of 18 he acquired his twin lens Rolleiflex with which he captured all his famous work.

Dubbed the ‘Cartier-Bresson of the East’, Fan Ho had the patience to wait for ‘the decisive moment’; very often a collision of the unexpected, framed against a very cleverly composed background of geometrical construction and texture. He also liked to create drama and atmosphere with backlit effects or through the combination of smoke and light. His favourite locations were life on the sea or the streets, alleys and markets around dusk.

Fan Ho is a Fellow of the Photographic Society and the Royal Society of Arts in England, and an Honorary Member of the Photographic societies of Singapore, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy and Belgium. He most recently won a 'Life-time Achievement Award, the 2nd Global Chinese Int'l Photography Award, China, 2015' by the Chinese Photographic Society (Guangzhou).

Speaker: Sarah Greene

Admission: RAS Members $100; Non-Members / Guests $150

Booking: Please email membership@royalasiaticsociety.org.hk in advance to register your attendance