Hong Kong Photo Travel Diary Vol.2
Kowloon area edition
Instagramer Johnny ( @johnny777 ), who is active both in Japan and overseas, traveled from Hong Kong to Shenzhen for a week.
We divided the places we visited into three areas and showed them the photos we took along the way. The second is Kowloon edition.
Guided by a Hong Kong Instagrammer, we traveled from famous photo spots to deep cityscapes with a tokyo grapher attachment lens.
Kowloon area
By the way, crossing the sea from Hong Kong Island last time , Kowloon area
Around Tsim Sha Tsui : Peninsula Region
Around Shek Kip Mei : Area north of Kowloon Peninsula to Lion Rock
Around Kowloon Bay : Explore three lesser-visited areas along Kowloon Bay.
Around Tsim Sha Tsui
This is the Kowloon Peninsula, and the bay area has the same atmosphere as Central on Hong Kong Island. .
The main attraction around Tsim Sha Tsui is the Hong Kong Polytechnic University , designed by Zaha Hadid.
It is an architecture that arouses the desire to take pictures with her unique straight lines and curves intertwined well.
Since the stairs were narrow, I was able to take pictures with an ultra-wide-angle lens that emphasized the perspective and gave a sense of depth.
The guy in the picture is Hong Kong Instagrammer Timmy ( @timmy727 ).
I love Nishino Kana, and she visits Japan many times for her concerts, and she travels more than me to various parts of Japan.
After leaving the university and heading northwest, the golden building you see is China Hong Kong City .
take a look. The ten o'clock sky captured by this golden building!
Do you want to look up and shoot with an ultra-wide-angle lens?
A few minutes' walk from here is the Xiqu Center , a theater dedicated to Chinese opera that was completed just this year.
This sense of scale!
You can't really feel it in Japan.
● Mong Kok
After driving about 3 kilometers north from the Xiqu Center, I arrived at a place called Mong Kok .
Buses with red roofs are called minibuses and are often privately run and run 24 hours a day. At night, the competition for customers heats up.
In Mong Kok, street shops line the streets all the way.
Hong Kong Instagrammer Candy ( @flosslai ) and Timmy, who were with us on this day, advised us not to buy anything here because there are many fake and poor quality products.
I think this lighting is a pachinko parlor in Japan.
This is Hong Kong.
It's a mahjong parlor, not a pachinko parlor.
A long time ago, I remember watching a TV program about a mahjong tournament being held before the wedding reception started, so I asked Candy if it was true.
"Yes, it's true that in Hong Kong there is a mahjong tournament until the start of the wedding reception.
However, recently, there are various styles of weddings, so there are times when there is no mahjong tournament. ”
is what they said.
By the way, Candy also plays mahjong well and seems to be strong lol
Neon signboards are very attractive, but many of them were destroyed by a typhoon a few years ago, so there are fewer than before, and it seems that more and more shops are switching from neon to LED.
Around Shek Kip Mei
Next is the area around Shek Kip Mei north of the Kowloon Peninsula to Lion Rock.
This area is a residential area with many housing complexes, and the atmosphere of a tourist spot is disappearing.
This is the courtyard of a housing complex called Nam Sham Estate .
Moreover, it is on the roof of the shopping street.
Here, I emphasized the breadth and height by looking up from below using the WIde Lens in a horizontal composition.
This is the Jockey Club Arts Center, a renovated building with the aim of providing offices and studios to support the future of Hong Kong art.
The slanting shadows of the beams that support the glass roof were very impressive.
I wanted to take a picture with a composition that I often see on Instagram, but unfortunately I couldn't take a picture because a fence was set up to prevent entry, probably because it became too famous.
but!
We were lucky enough to find another good place, so let's just say goodbye!
There was a place that was a courtyard, and the shadow of the beam was falling diagonally. There is no choice but to shoot "that"! smile
I asked Candy to tilt her body to match the angle of the shadow. You have a strong core!
Next is the media center of the popular Hong Kong Private University (Run Run Run Creative Media Centre) .
It's a little far from the station, and it's in the middle of the mountain, so I had to walk about 1km on the slope.
The building has a very unique shape and is also a popular place for Instagrammers.
Again, I used the Wide Lens to shoot.
If you turn your iPhone upside down and point the lens just above the ground, you can reduce the proportion of the ground and emphasize the building.
This is an image that takes advantage of the characteristics of the Wide Lens, showing the contrast between the scale of a large building and a small person.
● Choi Hung Estate
The end is here!
This is the courtyard of the housing complex called Choi Hung Estate, which is popular for its colorful outer walls and basketball court.
I found out when I went there, but this is actually the rooftop of the parking lot.
Hong Kong, which has little land, makes effective use of limited space in this way.
Just in time there are two uncles playing basketball.
I thought that if I got too close, I would get nervous and my hands would go crazy, so I used a tele lens to shoot the moment.
*Shoot missed lol
At that moment, a woman's voice suddenly called out from behind, "Excuse me?"
A college student girl from Thailand asked me, "Can you take a picture for me?" Jump power! That tight smile! smile
If you shoot a jump photo like this from below, it will look like you're flying higher than you actually are!
● Choi Hung Market
There was a market near Choi Hung Estate, so I went there, and it was a place with a unique atmosphere!
The most shocking thing is the figure carrying the dismantled pork without a shirt. smile
Arranged randomly? Stacked? An old man looking for pork with tongs.
Different countries have different customs.
In the market, I shot with the Tele Lens on. The Tele Lens is useful when it is difficult to get close to the subject due to crowds.
Around Kowloon Bay
Next, let's go to Kowloon Bay, an area along Kowloon Bay where tourists don't often go.
● To Kwa Wan
First of all, there are many colorful old buildings called To Kwa Wan , where the atmosphere of old Hong Kong remains.
If the weather had been fine, the vividness would have stood out under the blue sky, but unfortunately it was cloudy on this day as well.
In this area, car repair shops and paint shops are lined up on the first floor of the building, and the alleys have a similar atmosphere. .
When you wander around the city, you can encounter a "good moment" in a scene of everyday life or what is this!?
It had stopped raining, but there were people who were so absorbed in their smartphones that they didn't notice, a tree growing from the wall full of vitality, a cat watching the city through the glass window, and the names of the pots written on the photo.
Since I can encounter things like this, I try to wander while feeling the atmosphere of the city, instead of deciding exactly how to travel.
Before I knew it, I was walking about 20km a day. smile
I took the subway from To Kwa Wan, headed east, somehow got off at Kowloon Wan Station, and then walked east until I was exhausted.
There was a building with an atmosphere that seemed to have a market, so I decided to enter.
There is an uncle who is shirtless and chopping pork!
The unused parts of the meat are piled up in the shopping basket under the desk and overflowing on the floor. Lol And red lighting to make it look delicious here too!
This style seems to be standard in Hong Kong.
After leaving the market and walking for a while, I found a good photo spot.
Isn't it a place you've never seen on Instagram!
A red taxi passing between high-rise apartments with light blue accents on white.
There are stairs in just the right places, and I was able to balance high, low, middle, and high places.
● Kwun Tong
I took some good pictures and let's go next.
Head to a place called Kwun Tong .
It is an area with a lot of people and traffic because it is an old industrial area and prosperous, and it is the center of transportation, commerce, and administration in East Kowloon.
Because it is an industrial area, I saw many people carrying large amounts of luggage on carts and loading and unloading cargo.
In various places in this city, I saw a lot of job recruitment papers pasted on the walls.
I live a life immersed in digital things, and when I see analog things like this, my tension rises.
However, it seems that it will be difficult to find a job that meets your conditions from among these...
How was the Kowloon area?
We have introduced a lot of things, from famous spots to local places where tourists don't often set foot.
Next time, we will take the train from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, China, and visit various places, so please look forward to it!
Johnny
Instagram: @johnny777
Born in 1988 Born in Saga Prefecture Lives in Tokyo Graduated from Waseda University Art School, Department of Architecture and Urban Design
Fascinated by shooting with an iPhone, he entered the world of photography.
The main theme is a minimal urban landscape that is conscious of space and scale, light and shadow.
In 2017, it was adopted for Apple's “shot on iPhone” campaign and was posted as billboard advertisements in 25 countries around the world.
2018 Unsplash Awards street photography category winner