Though many associate 20th century street photography with the likes of Henri Cartier-Bresson, over in the East, a young photographer called Fan Ho was also breaking new ground. Born in Shanghai, China, the man who became known as The Great Master moved to Hong Kong with his family in the late 1940s and, armed with his new Rolleiflex Tessar f/3.5 TLR, started to document the city in his own inimitable way.
‘At that time, in 1948 and 1949, Hong Kong wasn’t as prosperous as it is now, it was just a city,’ says Fan Ho, talking from his home in California, USA. Self-deprecating about his understanding and command of English, Ho speaks slowly and clearly.
His love of photography started when he was a young boy in Shanghai, where he…