Put down that camera

No, it's not me being told off for photographing in public, after all, I am not in England anymore where you could get arrested for photographing your own child in the park.

This is me telling all the budding photographers here to put down that damn camera. I have never realised how into photography people are in Hong Kong. The amount of gear on display in a single playground here probably cost more than my mortgage. Except the majority of them (don't get me wrong, there are some really good photographers here too) don't seem to know what to photograph with their Leica or their Canon Image stabilising lens. So they are snapping away like headless chickens.

Going to the playground with my girls could be so annoying sometimes. Parents are more keen to take the perfect photo of their child than to let them play and they mean business. They make Britney Spear's paparazzi look like friendly fluffy bunnies. Posing, reposing and reposing again with the v sign, just push that bloody swing and let them enjoy themselves. And they have no reservations about taking pictures of my kids. Not that I am a paranoid parent but could they at least ask for permission first.

I went to a really interesting exhibition last week where local artists took over an old police accommodations building. Many of the rooms were used for installations. The part I like best were inspired by traditional and independent businesses in Hong Kong. But I swear, I was the only person there without a camera. No one paid any attention to the art at all, only what picture they can take for themselves. Most of them packed enough for a National Geographical assignment. Maybe if they actually look at the art on display, they might get inspired and find something they want to photograph, rather than just blindly snapping away.