Saturday, November 29, 2008

the central police station compound...

... a heritage that will likely survive (though it will have to face a conversion into modern usages in the near future).
"The Compound first came to life in 1841 when the British Royal Navy took possession of Hong Kong Island. To maintain law and order all the more efficiently, the site was selected as the centre for law and order, with the police station, magistracy and jail located close together."
It's been recognized as one of the oldest heritage structures in Hong Kong with rich Victorian, Edwardian and Oriental architectural style. Upon consolidating the police force into a grand multi-billion modern building, the Central Police Station was vacated in 2004. The Government once planned to dispose of the site to private developers; this was of course strongly opposed by architects and conservation bodies. The Government was forced to consult the public again...

"hong kong police"

"the magistracy"


"the victoria prison"


"security"


the prison in the city centre


prison wall

(Click the image to view the larger version.)

Saturday, November 22, 2008

reminiscing...

old streets, old shops, old buildings... are my memories inspiring me to photograph them or are the images of them bringing back the memories? I really don't know. But for sure, there're some yesterdays that I'd never forget...

Shing Wong Street, Sheung Wan

Old printing workshop, Shing Wong Street, Sheung Wan


a traditional chinese herb tea shop, Spring Garden Lane, Wanchai


dr leung for shoes... Thomson Road


a corner building of the 60's... Western Street


'Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.' Henri Cartier Bresson
Every time I pass by this fringe central district, HCB's words will come to my mind and it's such a pleasure to find this traditional store (and this 6 storey corner building) staying so much alive; I couldn't really tell how long it'll take before this precious corner site is cleared, merged with adjoining site and redeveloped into another prominent high rise commercial building...
hung yuen store, Hillier Street

(Click the image to view the larger version.)

Monday, November 17, 2008

two ifc in b&w...

"Two IFC again?" I guess I just have to repeat myself, "despite having photographed it so many times, I'm still having that urge to get more shots of it almost every time and everywhere I see it... " To make it a little different, I'm doing it in b&w this time.:-)

the "armour-plated" skyscraper

"the torch"

(Click the image to view the larger version.)

if you're not bored yet, you can find the gallery here:
http://www.pbase.com/hpicckcy/two_ifc

Thursday, November 06, 2008

the tramway...

the tramway (kennedy town praya)

the tramway and a double-decker tram...


a double-decker tram and the tramway (johnston road)

(Click the image to view the larger version.)