The Real Hong Kong

Hong Kong Culture | A personal view

Car Photography in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Car Photography

Let me be clear

There is no law against taking pictures of cars in Hong Kong or any vehicle for that matter
I have taken as of November 20th 2021 approximately 88,500 car images over a 10 year period
there are hundreds if not thousands of people in Hong Kong who post images of cars on Facebook and Instagram, some of them have tens of thousands of followers
I am not well known as a car spotter in Hong Kong except to the people that matter in the car photography “club” so to speak and I am known for my style and for the sheer volume of images online and my passion for Car Licence Plates will never be beaten!
I now have developed a passion for trucks and buses and am building up those collections
So why mention all of this? read on

Go here for all of my 130,000+ images taken in Hong Kong

A Walter Mitty character or someone more sinister

I want this encounter I had with the chap crossing the road in the image on record and out there.. it was such a strange interaction that I felt I had to take an image of the chap as a reminder

it was November 18th 2021 and when I woke up I did not expect to end up in Central District on Hong Kong Island for some car photography, I do not have a schedule and I chose the location at the last minute, this was a little different, our youngest son had requested I bring him his camera gear into town for an event so I obliged and on the way I figured I might as well fit in a 3 hour session with my camera and I decided on Chater Road next to the Court of Final Appeal and opposite the Hong Kong Club.

To be honest this is not my favourite location as even in bright sunshine the best spot for taking images of fast moving cars in located in very dark shadows.

I tend to lose track of time when I am in the zone but some time between 12.30 - 1.30pm I was interrupted by the chap in the picture, he was very smartly dressed, carrying 2 bags, well spoken and English like me, at a guess from London, I reckon he was between 35 - 45, it is hard to tell when people wear masks and he had a beard

He stood next to me and asked my what I was photographing, I said buses, trucks and cars

he then said

“There are some prominent families in Hong Kong who do not like their cars being photographed”

I retorted with

“ I do not care and there is no law against taking images of any vehicle in Hong Kong”

he said

“That is as maybe but there are some prominent families in Hong Kong who do not like their cars being photographed”

I turned my back on him not wanting to escalate the situation and he stood behind me for 10 minutes probably videoing me and sending messages

he then left and said

“ I have done my part, have a good day buddy”

He crossed Chater Road and I am pretty sure he went into the Hong Kong Club Building

and that was that.

When I do my photography I am used to people stopping and have a friendly chat as I tend to be in the same spot for 5 or 6 hours at a time, quite often it is young ladies (!!) but more often than not, car owners wanting to know how they can purchase my images ( I do not sell my images, anyone can download them )

This incident was a little bizarre and I cannot decide whether the chap is a bit loony and living a fantasy life like Walter Mitty or whether he has been hired by a cabal of prominent Hong Kong families to do away with people taking photographs of cars??!!

I do not think for a minute I am being followed or tracked, there was no way for him to know that I would be at that spot at that time on that day and to be honest as I take images of everything how would he know I was taking pictures of cars.

Given the number of people who take car images and post online I cannot see the logic of even bringing it up, the worst offenders are actually the press who finds ways to match cars to residences and speculate on car ownership, personally I could not really care less who owns a particular car with one or two exceptions (whose cars are just as famous as the person)

It also got me wondering on which families are prominent? was he talking wealthy, famous, dodgy??? Hong Kong has many thousands of prominent families I cannot imagine for a second they consider what I do (or others) to be an issue.

Anyway, I know what the guy looks like and could easily pick him out from a line up, I remember how he spoke and I have picture of him from the back and he probably works in the business district

Our son asked me if I was going to report it to the Police, I have thought about it, the chap was probably not a lawyer and certainly not a Police Officer but there was just something a little sinister about the whole episode, he reminded me of a gangster character in the UK movie Rock N Rolla…

One thing is for certain, I will not be giving up my photography! but I will be on the lookout for dodgy characters!