Hold Still, Hong Kong: a decade of everyday life, shot on film

Hold Still, Hong Kong is a decade-long photographic portrait of the city, made on film and centered on everyday scenes rather than famous landmarks. Its guiding contrast is between Hong Kong’s relentless pace and the patience of photographing on film: brief crossings, market conversations, workers moving through crowded streets, and familiar businesses become records of lives and places that may soon change. The essay frames the city as a place of repeated arrivals and departures, where colonial history, the 1997 handover, rapid redevelopment, and a strong local identity coexist in a compact, constantly reinventing landscape. Its central insight is that ordinary details often become precious only after time has made them disappear.

The photographs are arranged around distinct parts of daily life: Star Ferries and Victoria Harbour; wet markets; stairs, footbridges, and bamboo scaffolding; old shops, dai pai dongs, and cha chaan tengs; trams and taxis; and nighttime food counters, neon, and temples. The accompanying observations emphasize the people and work that keep the city running, from market sellers and trolley pushers to cooks and shopkeepers. They also note the pressures on older businesses, including high rents, chains, and the dwindling number of licensed dai pai dongs, as well as the loss of large neon signs. Together, the images make change tangible while preserving the textures of a particular everyday moment.