Writers and painters can rely on memory to create, but photographers simply cannot photograph memory and therefore must seize the moment. – Fan Ho.
Photo books are, for me, a guilty pleasure. Having been a natural collector for most of my formative years it came as no surprise when I started coveting and collecting as many photographic volumes as I could get my hands on.
I’ve been collecting photo books for the last few years and whilst the collector in me loves the hunt for new additions to my ever expanding pile of treasure there’s more to it than that. Aside from being things of beauty lovingly placed on the coffee table photo books can also be used as a fantastic inspirational tool. Photo books allow us to become inspired, to learn new ways of looking at the world around us and in many cases fill us with new ideas for our own work.
When I was introduced to the work of Fan Ho (何藩) I was immediately drawn into his photographic world and wanted to see, feel and know more, as such I started my hunt for books featuring his body of work. This particular book is the first in a series of three volumes ‘Hong Kong Yesterday’, ‘The Living Theatre’ and ‘Fan Ho – A Hong Kong Memoir’ All of which I plan to review in the coming months.
For those who are unaware, Fan Ho was a filmmaker and photographer born in Shanghai in 1931. He moved with his family to Hong Kong in 1949 and it was there that he became a photographer, film maker and actor. A man of multiple talents, he began working on productions with The Shaw Brothers and subsequently moving on to direct his own (more experimental) films.
Reportedly a gentle man with great sensitivity and warmth which is reflected in his images. Whether a candid street scene of ladies chatting in laundry draped Hong Kong streets or a wistful lakeside with splashes of shade and light brush strokes making up a typically Chinese panorama, the qualities of this personality can be felt as the viewer is drawn into the photograph and the moment he released the shutter.
The book has a varied selection of Fan Ho’s images ranging from candid street scenes reminiscent of Henri Cartier-Bresson to more expressionistic compositions that have an artistic and even abstract feel to them. The flow of the photographs shows what a versatile artist he really was.
Allegedly he was completely self taught and took many of the images when he was only 19 or 20 years old. I found that when viewing the work with that in mind it was a very humbling experience, how could someone so young with no formal photographic training produce work of this quality? Clearly Fan was a gifted artist. Especially when you bear in mind that this was long before the computer age and the digital imaging tools we have at our disposal today.
There is little to no text within the book and whilst it is often nice to have information about the photographer or what the inspiration behind the images was in this case it isn’t an issue. In fact, I found, given the style of the images, the lack of any text other than a photo’s title made the flow of the images all the more calming and was very suited to the work.
As you can see from the photos in this review – The body of work as a whole covers documentary, through tranquil landscape to more expressionist compositions. Each with something to say and a character of their own, with interesting use of cropping in some cases to more traditional formats. It would seem that Fan Ho had many interests and a keen eye for the feeling of a scene. Tonally they have all have a delicate feel to them and are printed beautifully. These scans online really don’t do the work justice and in order to really appreciate them you have to see them ‘in the flesh’.
The quality of the book is very nice and is bound in a ‘linen’ effect hard back cover with semi glossy photographic paper throughout. In most cases there is one plate per two pages with the opposite page being left blank, only in a few cases is there a panorama view with the image across the whole spread. In these cases you do lose some of the image in the gutter though despite that the book is so well bound that you barely lose anything.
Over all this is a wonderful book and a great addition to my ever growing collection. In fact the three books within the set are among my favourites of the photo books I own. I always come away from browsing them feeling inspired and in some way ‘calmer’. Unfortunately they aren’t cheap (as is the case with most photo books) and also not always easy to find, though Modern Book Editions have done re-runs since the book was first published and if you are looking to get hold of a copy then it’s always worth checking back at the link above as they may have another run available. There are copies available on Amazon for silly money too, so it’s definitely preferable to hunt around and try to find a more reasonable price. (Which is definitely possible if you’re happy to look).
If you enjoy photo books and are looking for some inspiration or simply would like a coffee table book with beautiful images for people to enjoy then I would strongly suggest hunting either this or the other two books down. Not only are they a joy to look at they also carry the spirit of a bygone era captured by a man with masterful taste and talent.
Disclaimer – All the images featured in this review are copyright of the artist and publisher and have been used specifically for the purposes of reviewing the book. The information contained on https://blog.williamadamsphoto.com website and blog.williamadamsphoto.com is for general information purposes only. The external links included within this article are subject to change and are included purely for reference purposes. I am not affiliated with or in the employment of these external sites.