‘I hope this helps to capture a part of Hong Kong’s history’: Tong Ho Chung Howard’s best phone picture

The street photographer celebrates the vibrancy of the Chinese territory’s traditional corner house

Tong Ho Chung Howard took this image on an afternoon of urban and street photography in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. He feels passionately about the history of the region where he was born and bred, and had hoped to capture what he regards as one of its most distinctive types of historical building – the corner house.

“Built on the intersection of two roads, they often contain a mixture of homes and shops,” Howard says. This corner house lies at the junction of Tung Choi Street and Shantung Street. “They’re one type of tong lau, which translates to ‘Chinese building’, first built in the 19th century. But in the urban renewal projects implemented here in recent years, such buildings are gradually being replaced by modern high-rises. It’s leaving Hong Kong without elements that would allow people to understand its authentic characteristics and history.”

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