Istanbul … HK Cage Images Feature …

Great to see my images of cage home, coffin home and other lowest cost ‘housing’ residents in Hong Kong get another significant airing … this time at the Zeytinburnu International Photography Festival in Istanbul, Turkey in January.

“Z Foto Fest” … as it is affectionately known for short … is an International photo festival hosted by the Türkiye Fotoğraf Vakfı (Turkey Photography Foundation) and the Municipality of Zeytinburnu on the European side of Istanbul, just outside the walls of the ancient city.

This years theme for the festival is ‘Oxygen’ with the aim of strengthening public awareness on environmental issues through the power of visual arts. Oxygens stated aim is to illustrate “the concepts of ecological collapse, perishing nature, industrial waste, human helplessness at facing wars, environmental issues, destruction caused by immigration and urbanization, accumulating waste from excess consumption of society, global warming and climate change, and comparing challenging and rare beauties of nature.” A big and noble call …

With that end in mind, “Z Foto Fest” contacted me about the prospect of showing my Hong Kong ‘homes’ work … and I readily agreed. Sadly, due to other commitments, I couldn’t travel to Istanbul … one of my favourite cities … to see the result.

The work “Living in a Coffin & Cage Dwellers of Hong Kong” was shown over five days of the festival at the Zeytinburnu Cultural And Art Center alongside other artists work from Russia, Italy, Austria, USA, China and Romania under the umbrella title “Abandoned – Rural – Overcrowded”. Z Foto Fest ends on February 11th.

Below are a selection of just some of my Hong Kong images involved in the exhibit … and a grab from the “Z Foto Fest” site.

Images © Brian Cassey

 

Z Foto Fest 2018 Istanbul Turkey - Hong Kong Cage & Coffin Homes - by Brian Cassey

Z Foto Fest 2018 Istanbul Turkey - Hong Kong Cage & Coffin Homes - by Brian Cassey

Z Foto Fest 2018 Istanbul Turkey - Hong Kong Cage & Coffin Homes - by Brian Cassey

Z Foto Fest 2018 Istanbul Turkey - Hong Kong Cage & Coffin Homes - by Brian Cassey

Z Foto Fest 2018 Istanbul Turkey - Hong Kong Cage & Coffin Homes - by Brian Cassey

United Nations Media Peace Awards …

… announced yesterday … a selection of my work from “Life in a Coffin: Hong Kong” has been chosen as one of the three Finalists in the  “2012 United Nations Media Peace Awards” for Photojournalism. The other two finalists in the photojournalism category are Stuart McEvoy from Melbourne and Lee Giriffiths from Western Australia.

The Winners will be announced at a presentation dinner attended by United Nations big wigs and media in Melbourne on October 26th to coincide (almost) with United Nations Day (Oct 24).

Really excellent to be selected in the final three … although Stuart and Lee’s work will both provide tough competition for the prize.

One of my selected images is shown below … whilst the entire “Life in a Coffin: Hong Kong” essay … and the story … can be found on the site of my photojournalism collective ‘fotostrada’ here.

© Image Brian Cassey

Life in a Coffin …

The second pic essay from my recent trip to Hong Kong … “Life in a Coffin – Hong Kong” has been posted to the web site of my collective ‘fotostrada’.

The pics – along with 1800 words – portray the situation of the poor of the former British Colony in the lowest cost housing alternatives of ‘coffin’ homes, bed space cage homes, wire cage homes, illegal rooftop shanties and illegal cubicles in old factories and industrial buildings. Although these still cost the residents more per square foot than the most expensive of Hong Kong’s luxury apartments, for the unfortunate they are just a step away from a life on the street.

The story also attempts to provide some historical perspective to the situation as the number of poor in HK exceeds the twenty percent figure (and the number of billionaires – which currently stands at 36 – continues to grow.)

The new essay can be found on ‘fotostrada’ in “Latest Stories” here … and will be posted to my personal site when time permits …

… whilst my older essay on the Hong Kong cage home dwellers – “Cage Dogs” – can be found on my web site here and on ‘fotostrada’ here.

Below I’ve posted a small selection of the many images from “Life in a Coffin – Hong Kong”.

© images Brian Cassey 2012