Hang Tam: Spirit of Hong Kong
Born in Hong Kong.
25.10.2020
Hong Kong is a jungle of concrete and steel. Look closer, and you will see an organic material weaving itself through the cracks, up the walls, completely surrounding and enveloping entire structures. The organic material is bamboo – a plant that unlike steel will bend, if not manually and properly tied together. Using bamboo as a construction material is an old skill, and it has largely fallen out of use in the city due to safety concerns. Hang Tam captures the withering building technique in Spirit of Hong as a reminder of a soon to be lost tradition, a unique and organic way of building a city in heights.
Hang Tam has published more than 10 photo books over the course of 8 years. Situated around the cityscape of Hong Kong, Tam’s work often represents a discovery of usual situations or behavior in an unusual context or vice versa.