Hahah - the everlasting inspiration and muse that guides and educates you through lenses of Hong Kong. “It brings me so much joy in helping people figure out their creativity and strengths”, says Hana - the founder of Hong Kong Photo Collective, entrepreneur, videographer, producer, content creator and photographer who also teaches media to kids. We dig deep into the people that surround her and the ideas that trigger new opportunities to everyone who is part of such collaborative space that Hanah created. And people keep asking for more. You are the founder of Hong Kong Photography Collective which is a entrepreneurial community that organizes events, workshops, lectures and generally many opportunities for people who love this industry. But how did this all start? So with all of this in mind I started studying a degree in cinematography and film - that all happened in Leeds, UK. Then I had a bit of a time so I got an internship in documentary film production - and I got paid! Thank god for that! And then I did a Master's in producing and then worked in London for a couple of years. I tried almost everything I could get my hands on there. I did casting, researching, TV , documentary, and film , even some reality T.V! Wow, that must’ve been quite something! It was a busy and exciting time, and I definitely learnt what I didn’t like, but a very valuable experience nonetheless. Especially when you’re doing so many jobs for many other people - you learn a lot about people from this particular industry. It was a really fast, fun time, but working 20 hour days was not sustainable in the long term. I must admit, experiencing a neverending UK lockdown, those T.V reality shows were sometimes really handy… Yes my time on reality T.V was definitely fun, but when you see how these things truly work, you need to think to yourself “oh my god these people are nuts”, and potentially its a very exploitative industry. That was also by the time when I did MTV….it was fun. But my last job in London was actually a job for a charity - quite a lot of casting stuff - you see so many similar faces. After 5 years though I wanted a change from London. Asia was calling and I was lucky that my Dad lived here at the time. So I thought to myself “you know what I have my paycheck, I have my camera” and moved here. Yes, might as well…seems like it was your proper gut feeling as well. Yeah - this kind of itching feeling. I was 27 at the time and decided that I’m just gonna do it. And then I met this friend who mentioned - friend of this friend has a production company here. It was very small but I was really lucky to work as a producer for them for a year and meet clients and sharpen up my knowledge of the city and learn new skills. It was the perfect start to learn how Asia’s production is working and how the clients are too. Was it really difficult to break the language barrier at first? It was a worry at first but I actually ended up working with a lot of western clients. I could meet people very easily and I learnt so much from the company. I always really liked being creative, putting things together and you feel like you're “doing” doing. I was there for about a year and I was worried about my visa situation. As a British Person you can get a year’s visa but it is not always easy to continue being sponsored through a small company. I luckily got the opportunity. Fantastic! What did you teach? I teach kids Photography , Filmmaking and Creative Writing. Before Hong Kong I had And never really even realized that it would ever be an option. As my background has always been around media and to teach it here it’s still quite a new idea and also still quite creative. Quite a lot of parents liked it because it was different and allowed kids to find their own interests and confidence while creating a film , documentary or writing portfolio which they can then use to build their passions in the future. Later on someone came to me and asked me - so when you teach kids to photography, can you teach me? So instead of that I wanted to start doing outings. Reach out to other photographers. When you get together people of different photography levels, as I had some friends who were doing really well here as photographers, why not get everyone together. Photography can feel very lonely and I realized how much people were seeking a supportive environment and new adventures around the city. So my initial idea was to launch a regular photography outing and mix people of different levels and abilities in interesting locations around Hong Kong. A Networking and learning experience. It must be great to watch people helping each other and networking within themselves as well… Yeah! And from that I started a Photography Community which then was developed as a mini Creative Agency on the side. As brands started approaching me and asking me to create content for them, At first I did it just as an experiment with a brand providing us with clothes, we took it outside, did a photoshoot and created posts on their Instagram or Facebook page, then I recognized a true potential in this. So I distributed these two sides of my ideas - that there’s this community and networking opportunity, whilst also providing work and gigs for other photographers. What are your future plans with your Photography group? We are doing this on the 6th of February in Kennedy Town. A friend of mine who is a quite well known photographer here is going to lead the class and it’s very nice vibe. That’s all I want to do, just bring all these similar minds together. As everyone’s perception and point of view is different and everyone is so lovely. At the end of the class I encourage everyone to post their photos to the group (but of course you don't have to) so you can get the best kind of feedback. Yes the feedback is so important, even though it can be sometimes heavy, but on the other super uplifting! Especially in Hong Kong, people can be very direct and yet also very shy to reach out… Of course, massively. This happened one day when I couldn't believe it after I posted this one photography event and I had so many people turn up on that day. And we just went to this Park Island where there is this abandoned village. I couldn't believe how many turned up on that day from so many backgrounds such as finance, retail, restaurants…they just were so keen to learn! Most people here usually go to work, change jobs and when it comes to the weekend they sometimes need that purpose of getting together and meeting new people too. And we get dinners and drinks together and it's just a really nice atmosphere. It went better than I expected. And during summer I had so many commercial jobs and gigs I always tried to bring someone along to truly interesting shoots, not purely just commercial jobs. I think it’s very important to bring people together . All of these people have different eyes and different styles. Do you think that creative people lack confidence in Hong Kong?
I do! I really think that, and also people that actually think of themselves as not creative at all. I challenge their perceptions. They are usually pushed into their careers without trying and experimenting with their free time that would challenge their daily routine and perhaps add another dimension to their skills set. Especially in Hong Kong where you have so much diversity of people, opinions, cultures in your hand and it’s just “waiting there”.... Of course, sometimes you have to push people to try it out. I met the best people who during testing their creativity gained confidence. But I’m still growing, I’m testing so many different angles too. But what I’m trying this year is the guest photographers - to bring them over and lead a class. Always cool and interesting people who make you feel relaxed and inspired. Wow you never get bored… Well in such a city which is so vibrant and photography and the response that I get from all of the events we’ve organized so far keeps me going so much. And so many people still want to keep coming as well. It's a very sweet and dedicated group that I notice in people coming to our events too. Of course I have my full time job and gigs that I’m doing, but I always want to dedicate myself to this. I just want to keep it growing this year and give out the exposure that it deserves and the people around it. It’s always so cherishing to provide people with opportunities where their talents are being recognized. I have a checklist of what I would like to do this year. I was wondering whether in such a busy schedule do you also miss a little bit the aspects of what you did when working in production? To be honest I’m trying to put the skills I gained from that into this. You realise that years of understanding this industry will reflect somewhere else. As much as I am a creative person there is a part of me that just wants to be more independent and follow things that I recognise should be done. I am organised to some extent but also open minded. As my Master’s was in Production and Business I’ll always have that in the back of my head but I still need to seek opportunities where I need to be creative. I love flexibility and there is a balance to it when you need an instigator in your life you need someone who wants to get things going. Would you call yourself a perfectionist? For me it’s more that I wanna see things happen. When it comes to execution of things you need to be on alert, but also dedicated to logistics but ready to brainstorm ideas and keep your mind open to adapt to the current situation. I still have a lot to learn and especially when it comes to the intricacies of what could perhaps go wrong. I know that I can get most things off the ground with preparation and the right people around you. Would you like to stay dedicated to photography only for now? Well I originally started with Video first and then Photography. They are very similar and they come from similar principles but there is a different kind of skill behind each category. I really like storytelling, everything I do has to have a story behind it. I chase the feeling beyond people. One day I’d love to make a short film - especially about Hong Kong. I’ve already started writing a script actually and eventually if I could get a group of people together and make it that would be a dream. It’s called Fade out City and in a strange way - maybe having these people around who have all of these skills and good energy, before making all of this I'd like to attend more festivals. I’m not going to be in Hong Kong forever but it’s so important to me to have the experiences that I got by meeting people who live here. It is a changing city with crazy people here, lot of energy. People come and go but you never ever meet people like the ones who live in Hong Kong. So you’re very interested in keeping that legacy going… Yes absolutely, keeping the legacy on but it’s also a form of checking yourself in - and reflecting on yourself and your values. You always know deep down what you need to do. But I always enjoy finding the people, locations, occasions, figuring out logistics about everything I do. It makes me realize it’s everything I learned in all my previous jobs. I enjoy helping people but not telling them what to do. I love helping them out in realizing what they are good at and challenging their perspectives. Everyone’s got their own talents. So when we go back to school and the kids that you teach - did you find it hard to impress the parents with such a new module? Of course! They need to understand that it is a valuable thing. The difficult thing is in a way to prove the innovation of technology and let people understand that being creative within media boosts your confidence too. It’s about people getting into their interests and letting people come up with their own ideas. And you bring those ideas to life as well as challenging them in how they want to work in a team by choosing who wants to be the director, who wants to be the actor, who wants to be behind the camera. It’s a very grown up way of behaving. It’s all the things that you’re not being told what to do but you learn by yourself as you go, I just provide the guidance. You need to feel it out by yourself. It’s about letting your kids just test it out and learn about their new side of them. We usually lie to ourselves and lie to ourselves about what we like. And it is okay when things don't click. As when sometimes people do not have the capacity to be able to realize and compare the things they might actually like and enjoy doing rather than staying in a job for example that you think that you deserve but you actually hate it. Exactly. It’s good to ask the questions by yourself - what do I enjoy, do I like the people who surround me and the work I do, do they support me or not. It seems that you also help out to find the grey area between the black and white… Yes, the grey area is super valuable and very important. When you have the freedom to do that you need to make the most of it. People need to know that they are allowed to express themselves.It’s very valuable - the grey area teaches you emotional intelligence, patience and of course….creativity. Isn’t it a bit of a shame when we sometimes bump into these people who say “I'm definitely not a creative person at all, there is no way I can be somehow artistic”.... I always think - this is just not true. Everyone is creative, life is creative. Let yourself find those things and the things that make you the happiest. Is it helping people, or getting ideas out…It’s fantastic and no matter what you can find with excitement even if it’s film, music, TV, whatever, it’s great. Here’s a 180 degree spinned question. What would you say to 27 year old Hana who is just arriving in Hong Kong? You made the right decision. Everything is going to change but I think you already know that. Keep meeting people and do not lose your confidence. Keep finding life beautiful and keep exploring. And on the flipside - what would you tell Hana in 1 years later from now? I would say - I don't know what you’re doing now but I hope that you stayed true to your values and hope you stayed happy. Hope you didn't listen to too many negative things and I hope that you keep being loving and appreciative but keep your spark. Check the HK Photo Collective Website: https://photocollective.hkphotocollective.hk Follow Hanah's work on Instagram: @hkphotocollective_ and @hana_photovideo
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AuthorAlex Edwards is a founder of Creative Womxn in Hong Kong who has media and journalism background but also experience in art community development and social media management. Archives
November 2022
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