Wong Wo-Bik

Place: Hong Kong

Born: 1950

Biography:

Wong Wo Bik

, a fine arts photographer from Hong Kong, has been active in the photography scene since the 1980s. She is best known for her photographic documentation of buildings and architecture with historical and cultural significance in Hong Kong.

Early Life and Education

Born in Hong Kong, Wong Wo Bik received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture and printmaking at the Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio, US in 1977 and Master of Fine Arts in Photography from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, US in 1979.

Life as a Photographer

She began her photography career in the 1980s, capturing photographs of historical architecture and landscapes in Hong Kong. Instead of preserved heritage buildings, she is interested in exploring old buildings that may be destroyed or demolished as time goes by. Her works are not just a historical record of old buildings but a reflection of her own experience "vanquishing time and space" at the site.

• She tries to use art as a way for her to express and shed perspective on these various destinations because she believes that the architecture she sees around the streets of Hong Kong reveals stories about the people who lived there.
• Through artistic fabrications, by only setting up two lights and flaw angles, she attempts to reinvent and retell these stories as well as her own subjective narrative of her experiences during her exploration at the site.

Directional Photography

becomes interested in the missing images after one of her friends told her that she remembers seeing a family photo taken back in the 1930s but had been lost. Photography, to her, is not an instrument of memory but also a tool for the invention of memory.

Light and Meaning

has her persistent interest in spatial and temporal exchange. Her work uses light, coming in through different forms and materials and with space and non-space to symbolise transitions from the known to the unknown, especially for the photography taken during her travel journey. Notable Exhibitions

• Colour Images, Hong Kong Arts Centre (1981)
• Photography Exhibition by Wong Wo Bik, USIS American Library, Hong Kong (1985)
• Impression, Alliance Francaise de Hong Kong, Hong Kong (1986)
• Seized Moments: The Photographic Journey of Wong Wo Bik, Hong Kong Fringe Club (2009)

• Wong Wo Bik's work can be found at https://Wikioo.org/@/Wong-Wo-Bik
• More information about her can be found on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Wo_Bik

is a fine arts photographer who has made significant contributions to the photography scene in Hong Kong. Her work is not only a reflection of her own experiences but also a way to shed perspective on the stories of the people who lived in the buildings she photographs.