Ask a photographer to name a Chinese master of the art and Fan Ho is the name they are most likely to come up with. Many Chinese photographers are not well known in the West but Fan Ho was one who broke free and gained over 280 awards between 1956 and his death in 2016.
Born in Shanghai in 1931 he began taking photos on his father's Box Brownie and was largely self taught. By the age of fourteen his father had bought him a twin lense Rollieflex and he had learned to develop his pictures in the family bath tub. He used the same camera throught his career, working largely in mono.
The family moved to Hong Kong in 1949 and he made the city his own, prowling the markets and alleyways taking candid pictures of street vendors and children. As Hong Kong became a powerful metropolitan city he built a significant body of work. He was rewarded with Fellowships of photographic organisations across the world, including the Royal Photographic Society and the Royal Society of Arts in the UK. He was also named one of the top ten photographers in the world by the Photographic Society of America each year between 1958 and 1965. Later in life he also worked in film and served as a juror at a number of film festivals such was his reputation in this field as well.
In an interview two years before his death he said "As an artist I was only looking to express myself....I need to be touched emotionally to come up with meaningful works....My purpose is simple. I try not to waste my audience's time."
The three photographs below are great examples of his use of light. The best way to quickly see some more of his notable pictures is this short You Tube presentation from Fotografia :-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJbBdu92Ky8
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