Hong Kong is a city made up of many elements, but perhaps the most visible, vibrant and varied is its people. Since being drawn to the multicultural community of Lamma Island with his wife and children in 2009, Swiss-born photographer Alain Jaquier has made it his mission to capture this invaluable essence of the Fragrant Harbour.
Admitting that he first began photographing all the usual clichéd Hong Kong haunts, Jaquier explains that he’s now bored with the skyline, trams and taxis, and is determined to record something often ignored – the faces of everyday folk.
Whether his subjects are road workers, butchers, scaffolders or even prostitutes, Jaquier reports finding it much easier to take portraits here than in Europe, where people are more likely to get aggressive than simply mutter in annoyance and scuttle away.
The self-taught photographer – who met his Costa Rican wife while cycling around Latin America to raise money for an orphanage (what a nice guy!) – tells Coconuts HK that he has two very distinct methods for obtaining his stunning photos.
The first is to approach his subjects with a big smile and his few words of Cantonese, making them feel comfortable before snapping a few quick pics while they’re laughing.
The other is more aggressive; simply getting straight in their faces without a word, clicking away until the disgruntled muse takes him or herself out of the frame.
“None of my subjects really enjoy getting dazzled by my flash without warning, and therefore I’m sometimes verbally attacked,” says Jaquier. “They normally make a strange noise and walk away mumbling things I do not understand. I do feel a bit naughty using this technique, but it’s certainly the most exciting. I kind of like it!”
Although often facing rejection from his so-called “victims”, the former news photographer does occasionally raise a smile. And while most of his subjects he never sees again, one wet market worker was overjoyed when Jaquier appeared with a print for her a week after taking her photo.
But with so many faces to choose from in Hong Kong, how does he decide who to target?
“A striking portrait for me is when my subject eyes, skin or hands can transmit a story or an emotion,” says Jaquier. “I normally take one candid image and then make a little noise (coughing or whistling) to get spotted and shoot another image when the subject is looking directly at me. In most cases I normally prefer the pictures with eye contact.”
