The Art of the Selfie (Hong Kong Style)

The Art of the Selfie (Hong Kong Style) Having lived in Hong Kong for five years, I witnessed an increasing number of tourists from mainland China coming here for shopping and sightseeing and, most important, taking selfies. One of their favorite spots is Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai, the political landmark named after a gilded statue that was inaugurated in 1997 by China’s Central Government to celebrate Hong Kong’s return to China. Hundreds of buses arrive here every day and spill out thousands of visitors who use their short stopover to walk around and view the nearby waterfront. Not many of them take notice of the Golden Bauhinia, but all of them take selfies. I became fascinated by their commitment and enthusiasm, which expressed itself in a wonderful range of gestures and often joyful and funny performances. I see this project as a mix of street and theater photography, focused on a universal phenomenon that reveals as much about our contemporary condition as it does about the medium of photography today. The photographs were taken between October 2014 and July 2015. Jhoane Baterna-Pateña