ZEN FOTO GALLERY

Zen Foto Gallery is pleased to announce its exhibition “New Hong Kong Photozine: "Photography ＿＿ Studies"” from February 15 to March 19, 2022.

One year ago in January 2021, Hong Kong photographer Chow san founded a photo zine under the title "Photography ＿＿ Studies" [攝影＿＿學], hoping to showcase different works of photography created by artists in Hong Kong. He saw that while a variety of photographic art and artists exist in Hong Kong, a very few of them are being introduced by the mainstream media in Hong Kong. Instead of simply presenting them on the internet or social media like how these artists usually publicize them on their Instagram accounts, Chow decided to do it on printed matter in order to let readers hold the work in their hands and decide on whether they like the artist's work, as well as whether to buy and own the zine as a presentation form of the work while offering the zine in an affordable price for anyone to purchase.

Chow named the photo zine "Photography ＿＿ Studies" because he wants to leave it open for everyone to have a different perspective towards photography, which is originally the way things are for art. What goes in the underscore/blank can be the study of philosophy, aesthetics of photography, or even a "non-study" of photography, according to Chow.

Along with this exhibition, Zen Foto Gallery will sell all the issues of “Photography ＿＿ Studies” by the following artists:

Dennis Soap (b.1981/China)
Shek Po Kwan (b.1988/Hong Kong)
Manson Lau (b.1981/Macau)
Fion Hung Ching Yan (b.1993/Hong Kong)
big_mic_mic
Cehryl (b.1996/Hong Kong)
Egg Cheung (b.1984/Hong Kong)
chung chung cheung (b.1988/Hong Kong)
Mark Pearson (b.1960/UK)
Victor (b.2004/Hong Kong)
Hang Tam (b.1978/Hong Kong)
Wabisabi Wasabi (b.1996/Hong Kong)

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Photozine Issue No.1 Dennis Soap

Dennis Soap (WONG Chun-keung) was born in Guangzhou in 1981 and migrated to Hong Kong at the age of six. Due to the facts that his mother was affected by Poliomyelitis since he was young and that his childhood was spent in Sham Shui Po, an old district in Hong Kong, Wong has built up appreciation on deteriorated fragments that surround him. He feels sentimental towards neglected images that people echo with and uses photography to capture beauty that comes from things being imperfect. Wong likes to pick up discarded objects and to imagine that these objects carry many secretive histories. Subsequently, through reconstructing them, he creates a way to bring out the beauty of imperfections. Expressions of humour which contradict with the subject are created with intention through the use of vibrant colours as well as eye-catching fluoro colours. Wong is particularly interested in understanding the relationships between human beings, spaces and living environments.

Instagram: dennissoap

Photozine Issue No.2
SHEK Po Kwan
shekpokwan.com

Born in 1988 in A Kung Kok, Hong Kong, Shek is a Hong Kong based photographer.
After graduating from Kwun Tong Vocational Training Centre, specialized in Photography and Digital Imaging in 2010, he started working in JoinArt, a commercial photography studio in Hong Kong. Shek was invited to Fabrica and was granted a scholarship and residency funded by the Benetton Group in Treviso, Italy. He became a photography researcher for two years and worked as a consultant in Fabrica for one year, which has widely expanded his perspective.
Snapshot photography is the main focus of Shek’s practice. He is heavily influenced by the concept of observor effect in quantum physics, and also the idea of the flaneur in the city. In his way of seeing, everything can be a photograph with the particles of light, the photons. In 2020, he started “SHEKSPAPER” to buy, sell and collect paper about photography, and he launched a pop up exhibition “Unlock the Picture Earth” at 18F free space. His snapshot photography has been regularly shown in JET magazine and ART AND PIECE magazine. In 2021, he co-founded and started a space “RAGORA” (玉公岩) in Shau Kei Wan, regularly hosting exhibitions and art and culture related events.

Instagram: shekarino.rockyoubaby

Photozine Issue No.3
Manson

Born in 1981, Macau, Manson aims to create narratives with the photos he has taken in his own mindset and techniques.

Photozine Issue No.4
Fion Hung Ching Yan

Born in 1993, Hong Kong, Fion became interested in photography under her father’s influence when she was small.

“I always like to visualize my dreams and my inner thoughts, and reflect them in reality. I’m happy that people are interested in knowing more of my subconscious self, and it surprises me. In the project, I attempted to question my identity, and who I’m supposed to be in my society. At the end, I realized the identity that I was questioning is hybrid, and there’s no answer to it.

Instagram: fotolotof

Photozine Issue No.5
Instagram: big_mic_mic

Photozine Issue No.6
Cehryl

Born in 1996, Hong Kong, Cehryl is a self-taught photographer who is also a music artist and writer. To Cehryl, photography has always been something solitary but she is very happy to be able to collaborate in this photozine project, which is also her first time publishing a zine.

Instagram: cehryl

Photozine Issue No.7
Egg Cheung

Born in Hong Kong, 1984, Egg Cheung is a self-taught photographer.

“Where there are people, there is waste. Ruins photography is nothing new, but everyone who visits is a passerby, attracted by these unpredictable sights.” — Egg Cheung

Instagram: eggcheung

Photozine Issue No.8
Chung Chung Cheung

Born in Hong Kong, 1988, Chung Chung Cheung graduated from Kwun Tong Vocational Training Centre, specializing in Design and Photography.

“This series of works is about the distance of dreams. Even though the dream seemed real, when you wake up, you will realize that the dream is unreal and there is a very far distance in between.” — Chung Chung Cheung

Instagram: xchungchungx

Photozine Issue No.9
Mark Pearson

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 1961, Mark Pearson is a self-taught photographer and collector who has lived much of the past 30 years in Hong Kong and Japan.

“These photographs express my feelings for my life in Hong Kong. Usually, nostalgia arises only after many years, but I am already nostalgic even though I left Hong Kong only a year ago. I know that I’ll probably never live again in Hong Kong, and I don’t know if I will ever be able to even visit, given the inhumane restrictions imposed on us all in recent years, arising from political, bureaucratic and corporate corruption.” — Mark Pearson

Instagram: z3tt0n

Photozine Issue No.10
Victor

Born in Hong Kong, 2004, Victor is a self-taught photographer.

“There has always been a certain kind of restlessness hidden in society, which makes people feel anxious, and I hope to show this kind of restlessness through my photos.” — Victor

Instagram: t_wc.ldp

Photozine Issue No.11
Hang Tam

Born in Hong Kong in 1978, Hang Tam graduated from the Open University of Hong Kong, specializing in photography. Tam believes that only through photography can he feel the existence of his own role. Photography fills a certain void in his life, both spiritually and temporally, which is why he keeps on shooting, so that he can get to know himself again and again.

“According to Wikipedia, scaffolding started in 1920 in Hong Kong. It is fast, light and cheap. In the 70s and 80s Hong Kong’s economy took off, and bamboo scaffolding has contributed to the city as well. Bamboo scaffolding masters have been working in dangerous places to carry out maintenance and demolition of buildings for the future of Hong Kong. In recent years, the Government began to replace bamboo with steel pipes, and I believe that we won’t be able to see bamboo scaffolding anymore in the near future.” — Hang Tam

Instagram: hang_tam_photo

Photozine Issue No.12
Wabisabi Wasabi

Born in Hong Kong, 1996, Wabisabi Wasabi taught herself photography by YouTube.

“A year ago, I bought a camera with the intention of taking pictures seriously, but then I felt that the world would not have serious things if there are no unserious things, so I started taking unserious photos again with my cell phone. After taking photos for a few years, what I want to say is photography doesn’t have to be serious or unserious to be good — the most important thing is for the photographer to enjoy taking pictures, and for the viewer to enjoy seeing the pictures! The most important thing is that everyone is happy!

I have always felt that publishing a photobook or book is a distant thing and has nothing to do with people who are only interested in it, until someone printed the photos I took with my cell phone on paper. As I touched them, I realized that there are many things I can do if I want to, and I can do it as soon as I want to do it! So from now on, I will think about what I want to do while I take my photos. Amen.”

Instagram: wabisabiwasabiiii