Dan Brackenbury wanders around the cities after dark making visible those solitary corners invisible at sunlight... (an other way of flânerie: visualizing a completely new world within the city!).
From his nightly wanderings at Hong Kong he published the book "Murmurs: Photo Essay"...
«In
Hong Kong there are several capsule-like villages that sit dotted
around the fringes of the city. Some of these belonged to a nomadic
community called the Hakka people who migrated to the area several
centuries ago. To protect the zones from encroachment, they built
large fortified walls around their small towns, closing themselves
off from the outside world. Similar segregations and seclusions still
exist all over Hong Kong today. For me, the city is a megalopolis of
walls and colonies – squares, boxes, cuboids and enclosures. All
over are settlements where people exist and get by in blocks upon
blocks, windows upon windows of private worlds.
The
Hakka people were acquiesced by the local communities but never truly
accepted. Instead they remained perpetual wanderers, forever camping
in one place. The word Hakka, directly translated from Cantonese,
means ‘stranger’ or ‘visitor’. These are words that could
easily describe myself.
I
lived in Hong Kong for seven months and was always an alien
throughout my time there. It soon became clear that I wasn’t the
only one: wandering around I would find myself drawn to other aloof
citizens and their environments, particularly after dark. During the
day the city is a frenetic blur, muddled and confused. However, at
night individual habitats are outlined and illuminated. Personal
space suddenly grows clear and the solitary corners and quietude
within the city become visible.
I’m
quite a shy photographer, I don’t like to interrupt things. Instead
I stand back with my zoom lens and look in on people’s surroundings
from a discreet distance. This allows me to watch life unfold like a
film, glimpsing key scenes and plot thresholds. Not dissimilar to a
cinemagoer, a spectator in the shadows gazing out at the drama
projected magically in front of me. I like this anonymous persona
because it suits me. As with many people who live there, I never
properly belonged in Hong Kong – but I was quite happy to be a
guest and roam quietly with the other drifters. Outsiders all,
estranged comrades caught in the dazzle.» Dan Brackenbury
