I lived without my smartphone for three days for a university course. Living without a phone is to live differently. It is a bit bizarre we have not invented a new word for the phone yet. Life companion or life organizer seems to be a more apt description. Perhaps we still cling to this word in order to trick ourselves to think we are not as reliant on it. I can live without a phone we like to think, perhaps we can but can others live without us having one?
Propaganda and Ideology only works if it total in character, not just big ideology in the speeches and grand gestures but it has to be there in the everyday, the things we don’t think about, the assumptions that are made for us which we accept without thinking. It is the small propaganda, the small ideology which seeps inside us without our noticing while we laugh at military parades and banners and think, “who can ever fall for such a thing”.
“Get your pass ready”, the man said to himself. “Wallet, Keys, bus pass, phone, bag, 1-2-3-4-5, check”. The bus came and he stepped inside. Finding his regular seat, in the back half next to the window tucked in the corner he looked around. There were six people in the bus, including him. He recognized them,... Continue Reading →
A story about being normal
I love signs. They tell us about the history and character of a place. A sign tells us how something wants to be represented. In Hong Kong, signs are everywhere. Written on buildings; jutting out on rusty poles; printed; handwritten; Glowing in neon, or not at all; marking its colonial legacy, or moving forward. What... Continue Reading →
Hong Kong is much more than the malls and the luxury goods extravaganza that you will most likely see as a tourist. Below is a small selection of different shops during the evening. Vegetables, dried goods, Property, you can buy it all in the short hours after work where people can be people again. Kowloon... Continue Reading →
Photos of people going somewhere
Hong Kong can be a difficult place to sit. The metro stations and shopping malls have little to no places to sit. Hong Kong is a place of hostile architecture, it does not want you to stop but keep walking and walking, buying and buying. Sitting in Hong Kong is usually designated towards the numerous... Continue Reading →
Curved and straight lines in Hong Kong
A selection of objects photographed in Hong Kong
Not Just About Culture 