Happiness in Black

CHAN Wai Kwong

Hong Kong-based photographer Chan Wai-Kwong’s photobook “Happiness in Black” (the title inspired by a government-critical song by music group Softhard) features street photography taken in Hong Kong between 2018 and 2020. Piece by piece, the full-page, full-color photos in the book add a new side to the Hong Kong as it is seen by Chan Wai-Kwong, forming a rich portrait of the city during one of its most tumultuous years. Through street portraits, detail shots and a few shocking images, Chan Wai-Kwong shows the filth, the glamour, and the rot behind the surface.

Chan Wai-Kwong taught himself photography as a teenager after dropping out of school. He has self-published more than 40 photobooks so far. “Happiness in Black” is his third publication with Tokyo-based publisher Zen Foto Gallery.

-Book Size
200 × 200 mm
-Pages
132 pages
-Binding
Hardcover
-Publication Year
2020
-Limited Edition
500
-ISB
978-4-905453-95-6

Artist Profile

CHAN Wai Kwong

Chan Wai Kwong was born in Hong Kong in 1976. He left school at an early age and began to publish his works in 2010. Today Chan has published over thirty photography books and held seventeen solo exhibitions.