Fan Ho is one of these photographers making iconic photos while breathing, a second nature for him and a definite coup de coeur every time I see his images for me. Born in Shanghai, emigrated to Hong Kong in 1949, he relentlessly chronicled the life in his new home during the 1950s and 1960s. His photographs are candid accounts of the lives of his fellow countrymen. Simple people doing simple tasks, children playing in the streets, vendors working or simply passing by. Fan Ho became a master of light and shadow, His most iconic picture is “Approaching Shadow” of 1954, but it is one of many. I love the atmosphere, the ambiance of a lost world. His photographs have something very compelling, showing the position of humans in the city, small figures passing by in the immensity of the place. Fan Ho could be easily compared to Henri Cartier-Bresson: a discreet witness picturing his fellow men without interfering, a humanist capturing what makes humans tangible.
