Fotograf Mikko Takkunen fängt in seinen Bildern die Faszination der Metropole am Südchinesischen Meer ein.
Sieben Millionen Menschen leben in Hongkong. Das sorgt für eine ganze Menge StatistInnen, die dem Finnen Mikko Takkunen für sein Werk „Hong Kong“ vor die Linse kommen könnten. Doch da ist noch mehr: Häuser, Fassaden, Fahrzeuge, die Farben und das Licht, das die Faszination dieser Großstadt ausmacht und jede noch so ordinäre Ecke in ein perfektes Setting verwandelt.
Ein gutes Foto weckt Emotionen. Als Fotoredakteur der New York Times weiß Mikko Takkunen um diesen Umstand, der ihm die wichtigste Lektion mit auf den Weg gibt, um selbst als Fotograf zu brillieren. Beim Streifzug durch Hongkong entstehen Momentaufnahmen, die nicht nur das Leben in einer der größten Metropolen dieser Welt einfangen, sondern neben Problemen auch die Schönheit einer Großstadt dokumentieren. Zu den Fotos des Finnen gesellt sich das Essay von Geoff Dyer, der die Faszination der Arbeit von Mikko Takkunen in Worte fasst. Mikko Takkunen & Geoff Dyers, „Hong Kong“, Kehrer, 96 Seiten, 68 Farbfotografien, ca. 35.– (mikkotakkunen.com und kehrerverlag.com)
„A view from Star Ferry terminal in Kowloon towards Hong Kong island in October 2020. The ferry is a Hong Kong icon that runs every few minutes between the island and the continental Kowloon side. Hong Kong means ,fragrant harbor‘ in Cantonese.“„A man in an,I love HK‘ shirt descends stairs in Wan Chai, Hong Kong island, September 2020. Geoff Dyer writes in his essay for the book how Hong Kong has a special affinity to Manhattan and how the cities have ,a similar sense of intensely concentrated and vertiginous energy‘.“„Repairing an old Rolls-Royce in Tai Hang neighborhood in July 2020. The classic British luxury car makes me think of the British colonial past that Hong Kong had until 1997.“„A scene from Central in July 2020. The National Security law was just enacted and there was a sense of unease.“„A taxi driver in Hong Kong island in June 2020. My late father was a taxi driver and I always find myself paying special attention to them. This was just weeks before the National Security law was enacted.“„A kitchen still-life from the Tai Hang neighborhood where I lived.“„A woman makes a phone call on the rooftop in the Tai Hang neighborhood in June 2020. One of the many photographs I made from our 19 th floor apartment overlooking a mostly lower rise area. Geoff Dyer writes in his essay that I was conducting my own highly personal form of haphazard and entirely benign surveillance, both at street level and by taking advantage of one of the perks afforded by the architecture of density whereby everything and everyone is constantly overlooked by someone or something else.“„A view of a sail catamaran from Lamma Island in January 2021. The island is one of the few places in Hong Kong with more affordable housing and a popular weekend getaway from the city.“„Students taking shelter from the rain in Tai Hang neighborhood in July 2020. The rains can be very fierce, especially during the typhoon season between May and November.“„A man doing chores on a rooftop in Tai Hang neighborhood in June 2020. Nearly one in five people live in poverty in the city, which is one of the world’s most unequal places to live.“„A bus in Tin Hau neighborhood in May 2020. Hong Kong is in constant motion and nearly ten million trips are made daily in the public transport system in a nation of just over seven million people.“„A scene from Wan Chai in August 2020, a month after the National Security law was enacted.“
