Hong Kong Soup

香港湯:1826 (Hong Kong Soup:1826) Hong Kong Soup:1826 is a series depicting marine plastic debris collected from over 30 different beaches in Hong Kong since 2012. Over 1,826 tonnes of municipal plastic waste goes into landfill EVERY DAY in Hong Kong, and each image reflects the diverse range of these products by highlighting recovered objects or groups having escaped recycling or landfill. The images directly relate to the traditions, events, nature, and culture of Hong Kong, with the intention to connect with its people providing awareness about the crisis facing effective waste management. Objects include products from manufacturing, retail, household, medical and hazardous waste alongside agricultural, shipping and fishing related debris. 湯 (SOUP) is a description given to plastic debris suspended in the sea and in this case with reference to the waste crisis in Hong Kong. The series aims to engage with the public by stimulating an emotional response, combining a contradiction between initial aesthetic attraction with an awareness to encourage social responsibility. All waste in this series has been collected over the past 3 years, photographed in both Hong Kong and the UK, representing a wide-ranging collection of debris that has existed for varying amounts of time on Hong Kong’s own doorstep.