In 1841, during the First Opium War, Britain took over Hong Kong and started 156 years of colonial governance. 1997 was the year of Handover when Britain returned the sovereignty of Hong Kong to China; a critical historic moment for Hong Kong, Britain, and China. At that time, Hong Kong had greatly changed. The fishing village had become Asia’s financial center.
As a Hong Kong photographer, I decided to move back to Hong Kong from Canada in order to make a visual documentary about this historic year. And I started this project in the first hour of 1997, capturing all sorts of unforgettable moments before and after the handover and throughout the year.
Now it has been a quarter of a century since the handover, and Hong Kong has rapidly changed. 2022 is the 25th anniversary of the Handover, which marks the halfway point to 2047. 2047 is the year when the “one country, two systems” arrangement for Hong Kong expires, so 2022 is the right time to look back at 1997, to rethink and review some old memories and scenes of unique transitions throughout world history.
This photographic work witnessed the transformation of our landscape, our social development, and also the people’s feelings that year in this place once known as the “Pearl of the Orient”.
Birdy Chu is a photographer, video artist, and documentary filmmaker; he graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a BA in Design, and further studied film and video production and advanced photography in Canada. Birdy has worked as a photojournalist, video director, lecturer, and curator. He obtained his Master in Visual Art Administration and founded “Art Casa”, an organization that promotes art and photography education.
His photography and films have been exhibited in many cities and selected for the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial Awards 2009, National Geographic Photo Contest 2012, Hong Kong Art Prize 2013, and Hong Kong Human Rights Art Prize 2015. He also won the Most Popular Mobile Film Award at the Hong Kong Mobile Film Festival 2016.
Birdy employs visual images to show his concerns over social development and leaves evidence of our ever-changing world.
