Although I live next to a national park in Korea, I always like to travel when I get the chance and every year during summer vacation, the two places to I head to are Hong Kong and Taiwan to visit family and friends. During this time, while I do have my camera with me at all times, I rarely take photos since I'm always with someone but I do take a snap or two when I see something interesting. If you're interested about where I took the photos, the information is in the photo captions

There are a lot of escalators in Hong Kong. Heck, it's one of the main modes of transportation in Central on Hong Kong Island to ferry people up and down the hill. This project, "Escherlators" was inspired by M.C. Escher Relativity, where the stairwells lead into difference dimensions, into an never ending loop. The escalators in Hong Kong are some what the same; take the wrong one and you end up on a floor that you didn't intend on going to and trying to find your way around can be confusing.

Hong Kong was the place where I started taking up on Street Photography back in 2012. It started out as a way to relax  from the stress of working there. As time progressed, it turned into an interest. Going back to Hong Kong during this long weekend in Korea gave me a chance to practice and sharpen my street photography skills which I have not been able to do here in the countryside (although one might argue that you still can but my rule is that I don't sh*t where I eat). I did find out that I have a preference for taking photos inside of buildings rather on the street since it's interesting how people's behaviour change when they are in an interior environment Vs. when they are out on the street. People tend to be more interesting once they are indoors whereas it seems as if they are constantly rushing from point A to point B when they are on the street. Then again, that is my observation. Enough reading. Here are the photos.

In 2012, I took a small detour to work in Hong Kong but things didn't go as planned hence I came back to Korea. It was at Hong Kong when I started to experiment with street photography since the place is a massive urban jungle. I didn't had the chance to visit the natural side of Hong Kong up in the New Territories since I never really had the time to venture out that far. Therefore I spent most of my time wandering around in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Most of my photos were converted into black and white at that time, but as I went through them again today, I decided to re-edit them to see how they would look in colour. To be honest, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Here they are.

Ngau Chi Wan (Which literately translates as “Cattle Pond Bay”), is one of the original village settlements in New Kowloon of Hong Kong. The area is now known as “Choi Hung,” for the Choi Hung Estate which is adjacent to the original village. Ngau Chi Wan is one of those few forgotten gems which are overlooked by modern development. Interestingly, it wasn’t redeveloped and was left in its original state. To be honest, I stumbled upon this market by chance. Usually I would get off at Choi Hung station and head directly for the mini bus stop. Last week however, I got there early and since I hadn’t had breakfast, I explored around to see if I could find something to eat. Being sandwiched by two arterial roads, I had very low expectations of finding an eatery. However, once I stepped into the market, it felt like I just found a treasure chest (of food). The market itself is divided into two areas; the original market where there is a mixture of the small eateries and market stalls, and the modern three story market where a variety of meats, produce as well as clothing and textiles are sold.

Not knowing about the traditional market, I headed into the modern market seeing that it was near the MTR exit which I came out of. The market itself is divided into sectors where each sector specializes in a certain area such as fresh seafood, produce, live poultry, Chinese BBQ meats etc. The array of colors, smells, and sounds were mesmerizing. However, being on an empty stomach, I continued on my quest to fill my belly and made my way out of the modern market and I found myself in the traditional market.