Review: F11 Photography Museum, Hong Kong

F11 exterior

In preparation for this month’s visit to Hong Kong, I checked online to see if the city had a photography museum.  There is in fact a lovely new facility housed in a recently refurbished early 20th century building, but viewable only by appointment, and only on certain days of the week.  Planning ahead was fortunate and is imperative if you don’t want to miss a visit.

F11 is one of the few private museums in Hong Kong and the only one dedicated to photography.  At present there is no permanent exhibit apart from the Leica camera collection, some pieces of which are rotated on a regular basis.  Photo exhibits are held several times a year, running from a week to a couple of months.  On display during my visit was a collection of 85 black-and-white images by Swiss photographer Werner Bischof taken during his one and only 1952 visit to Hong Kong.  These were what you might think of as street or travel photography, impressionistic images of a Westerner’s first visit to Hong Kong.  Perhaps a third of the images exhibited were noteworthy, images I would look at more carefully or care to revisit.  The remainder were perhaps notable 50 years ago; today they appear rather pedestrian (though may be of great historic value, as revealed in the following paragraph).   Included in the exhibit were several period artefacts, including magazines featuring Bischof’s images, a guide to Hong Kong, and a horse-racing guide, among others.

Our guides:  Grace and Jack

My visit included a number of other guests and was hosted by two guides who spoke about the museum’s purpose and history before leading our group of about twenty through the exhibit.  Along the way, on both the ground and first floor, the guides provided background information on many of the photographs, such as where an image was taken, what might be there now, or explaining some bit of local culture as represented in Bischof’s work.  One photo in particular had caught the attention of the museum staff, a street scene in long perspective with loads of detail such as storefront names and signs.  The guide informed us the photo had been sent to two city historians in an attempt to identify the location, but that as all such signs have since been changed and there are no records of those businesses in city archives, the best the historians could offer was conjecture.  One of the visitors in our group then spoke up: “My brother went to that school,” referring to a sign for an institution offering instruction in electronics.  Perhaps the location of this image has since been verified.

My visit was attended by another bit of good luck:  the owner stopped by to show his Leica collection and talk a bit about the building and his museum.  Presumably the second floor and the roof are typically closed, but on this day we were treated to a personal tour by the collector himself, who was happy to share stories about some of his favorite items in his collection, as well as to tell us a bit about the history of the building and its refurbishment for use as a museum.  Mr So was quite approachable, congenial and informative.  May you also have the chance to meet him should you visit.

The second floor also houses a substantial collection of photobooks, many of which appear to have never been opened.  I could easily spend weeks here browsing.  Researchers take note:  the book collection, as well a collection of original prints, is available for inspection on request.

Group shot with Mr So, 4th from right

To my great surprise, I received a follow-up email a week after my visit with a personal photo. A third staff member had followed us during our tour, and while it is not especially unusual for organizations to make images for marketing and promotions, it is very rare indeed for an organization to follow-up with copies of images at no charge.  A very nice touch, indeed.

And speaking of fees, I should note that as of this writing there is no charge to visit the museum.  Only advance booking is required.

If you are planning to be in Hong Kong in October, be sure to make a reservation for the Rodchenko exhibit marking the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution.  I hope to see you there!

For further information on F11 and news of current exhibits, visit online at:  http://f11.com/

You can also visit F11 on Facebook at:  https://www.facebook.com/f11museum/

Finally, for anyone that might be interested in an album of images from my 3.5 day visit to Hong Kong, please have a look here:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/80283129@N03/albums/72157677700063120

Personal photo sent by F11 staff:
Thank you!

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