Fan Ho - Children's Paradise, 1959

This is one of Fan Ho’s photographs, taken in 1959. I believe many of Fan Ho’s works capture movement and frame the subjects similarly to the way of Saul Leiter and Marie Laigneau. Many photographers of the time utilised a higher shutter speed, meaning that most motion was not captured as particularly blurred, but rather as sharper. I appreciate how this photo was presented in black and white, which may have been a more time-appropriate choice, as many films and photos were still being shot and captured in this manner. I think the capture of this photograph in black and white allows the audience to observe how the light interacts with the subjects in the photo more than how the different colours represented Hong Kong when this photo was taken. I like how this shot was also taken from a low angle, which allows the people in the image to be positioned in the bottom third. The light coming in from the sun just faintly reveals the various other components of the hanging shirts as the children run through the street joyfully. Additionally, this photo, which shows the children in descending order of height, helps illustrate just how young they are, yet also how happy they appear. I believe that this image has influenced me with the new knowledge that I don’t have to capture people’s faces to convey both a sense of emotion in the picture and tell a story.