Lai Fong and Afong Studio

The misty atmosphere of this sweeping view contributes to the otherworldly scale conveyed by Lai Fong’s photograph. It was taken from part way up the mountain Peak overlooking Central, the administrative heart of Hong Kong Island, where Lai Fong’s studio was located on Queen’s Road. The photograph shows the westernmost tip of the Kowloon peninsula in the center of the composition. The ‘nine dragon’ mountains, after which Kowloon was named, are clearly visible in the distance. Lai Fong’s privileged view is that of an official surveying his kingdom, and indeed, the Hong Kong governor’s summer mansion was moved near to a location nearby at around the time this picture was made, in 1868.

One of the most accomplished photographers of his time, Lai Fong was equally adept at landscape and portrait work. Here, he shows southern China as a tropical paradise, the long exposure giving the water a veil-like quality. Photographs like this one held special interest to those who knew traditions of Chinese brush painting.