EDITORIAL | Arts & Culture Interview

Hong Kong Through the Lens of South African Photographer Gideon de Kock

“If it wasn’t for Hong Kong, I wouldn’t have been a photographer,” says South African musician-turned-photographer Gideon de Kock whilst surrounded by a curation of his work in his solo-exhibition, Maybe Today, housed on the first floor of the dtby_BOON pop-up at K11 Art Mall.

Local creative collective dtby_ and de Kock have been acquainted for quite some time, having worked together on several collaborations in the past—this being the latest in their creative partnership to connect more Hongkongers with art and design.

The exhibition itself is in a minimalistic space: plain white walls with a selection of the artist’s photographs printed in 3:4 on A4-sized cardstock, each tacked onto the wall with 4 incredibly thin pins. Titled Maybe Today, the selection captures moments of everyday life in the city—some close-to-heart, some nostalgic, and some quite surprising for its unsurprisingly characteristic portrayals of the city. Sitting down with the photographer, we got a chance to see the man behind the camera and his point of view on the underlying subject throughout all his work: Hong Kong.

“I think Hong Kong is a city that’s very fast-paced, very work-centric. It’s very full-on—a lot of blinders on—It’s very easy to not even notice or see because everyone is too busy”, starts de Kock, when asked about the inspiration behind his exhibition. “This show is called Maybe Today, and for me [it’s] really about an exercise in presence, in mindfulness. [...] A lot of these images are really representative of ‘focus’.”

Focus, like the way each photograph invites the viewer to peer into its vivid narrative, a trick made possible by using the expansive white walls that frame each piece. But it’s also built into the composition, as the photographer muses that on a technical level, it’s all the same photo, each with a hyper-focused focal point that places its subject at the centre of the frame.

A walk-through the space will give viewers a taste of this ‘focus’, as de Kock pointedly captures moments most people won’t even spare a glance at. “[I’m] also trying to elevate [the subject] into a space that isn’t used to this type of work—seeing these objects or people or things being portrayed with such admiration. [...] [I want to get] people to question why [these things] should be incredible.”

The Maybe Today exhibition opens from now till 28 Nov at the dtby_BOON creative space at K11 Art Mall.