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Hong Kong : Six Aspect Ratios

By Tommy Nagle

May 23^rd, 2016

香港

My films are never about what Hong Kong is like, or anything approaching a realistic portrait, but what I think about Hong Kong and what I want it to be.

WONG KAR-WAI

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[16:9] PEOPLE

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\\

so, so, so many mobile phones

hole-in-the-wall stores

stacked with teetering piles of detritus

everyone’s a taxi driver

a gangster

a fashion victim

a trolley-pushing

impeccable snap-back MLB cap-sporting

dirty apron-wiping

cheap cigarette-smoking

vertical-living

smog-breathing denizen

//

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[3:2] WET MARKETS

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Graham Street Market, in the ‘Central’ area of Hong Kong, does its noisy, messy, smelly, vibrant business on a narrow thoroughfare in the shadow of tumbledown retail buildings and gleaming multinational corporate headquarters alike.

Named after… frankly, who cares?

Interlude:

…I know a couple of Grahams. Lovely blokes. But you don’t go out to motivate armies, put fear into the hearts of men, score the winning goal / touchdown / basket / etc, woo the beautiful / handsome gal / guy with a name like Graham. OK, there are going to be exceptions, but they did it in spite of their rubbish name. [i.e. ‘A Boy Named Sue’.] Apparently it used to mean ‘gravel homestead’. I mean, you’ve got names which mean ‘Prince’ and ‘King’ and ‘Dawn Of The Firey Morning Sword’ or some inspirational crap, and then you’ve got Graham. Named after a few outbuildings and some very small rocks.

:END OF INTERLUDE

Sorry Graham. Just like any wet market with meats of questionable provenance hanging up in the mid-afternoon heat, it’s a feast for the nose as much as for the eyes. At least all of the animal is used, from tongue to tail, hooves to hearts, every part on display.

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Warning: Bonus Goat™

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We spotted this guy standing guard next to all manner of suspended viscera. From afar, we thought it might have been a slightly distasteful sculpture, but up close, yep, it was real. All hair and skin and gelatinous goop swinging gently in the wind.

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Sorry.

[4:5] THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

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What can you say about the juxtaposition of old and new in Hong Kong that hasn’t already been said? Turns out, not a lot.

In places, the footprints of some buildings are so compact and at odd angles, when you’re close up they can seem to merge together in an odd, foreshortened, M.C. Escher fashion. That is if Escher used 1970s/80s shades of pink, peach, mint and beige.

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[2.35:1] birds

The Edward Youde Aviary. A giant tropical cage filled with over eighty species of inquisitive birds. And it’s free!

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[1:1] patterns

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[UN:CONSTRAINED] THE REST

[16:9] MOVING IMAGE

We were only there for a day and a half, and due to distracting nature of such things as ice cream and waffles (see below) I didn’t shoot much video. I put this together nonetheless.

ODDIES FOODIES

You read that right. It’s a small kitchen with a booth for ordering your treats that does (amongst other things) ice cream and waffles. Witness the ‘Night Wolf’, below, which comprises: “Italian low fat soft gelato twisted with 66% dark chocolate, served with buttery crumbles, caramelised banana ice cream, passion fruit panna cotta, brownie and chocolate chips eggettes and crunchy flakes”. Worth the trip alone.

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POTTINGER STREET

Unique for being one of the few streets left in Hong Kong that still have the original granite steps, atop which the vendors sell all manner of tat / rubbish / ‘souvenirs’.

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view FROM THE PEAK at night

We had one chance to see the view from Victoria Peak, and that was just before we left. We had to get there early before the sun had set on a foggy evening in order to fight for a space on the viewing platform, which was cold and windy, but worth it.

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With apologies to Jimmy McIntyre - Luminosity Mask Legend!

[4:3] cat tax

Becos cats.

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Don’t forget to hit the enjoy button! That is, if you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.

Footnotes

All photos and footage taken with the Panasonic Lumix GH4. Graded in Lightroom or edited in FCPX.

FootNotes

All photos and footage taken with the Panasonic Lumix GH4. Graded in Lightroom or edited in FCPX.

© 2026 Tommy Nagle

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