More shameless self promotion

I have 3 group shows opening this week, if you are in Toronto, London or Hong Kong, come check out one of the shows. I am back in Hong Kong now to continue on my project, 'The Queen, The Chairman and I', so hopefully see some of you there at the 1A Space.

'Right Here, Right Now', The Front Room, 96 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3EA, PV- 05/10/10, 6-8pm.

'Flash Forward Festival', 171 East Liberty Street, no. 118-120, Toronto. PV-06/10/10, 7-10pm.

'Simulated Alternate Realities', 1A Space, Unite 14, Cattle Depot Artist Village, 63 Ma Tau Kok Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong. PV 08/10/10, 7pm.

Troika/Format

I mentioned a while back on the blog that I have reworked my project 22 steps to the sea. I am pleased to say that the project has been awarded the Troika Editions FORMAT Exposure Prize. So besides being part of Format Festival next year, 3 of the diptychs will be previewed next week at the Front Room Gallery in Clerkenwell, London, alongside the other 2 winners. The 3 diptychs will also be available exclusively on Troika Editions. Come along next Tuesday, 5th Oct, 6-8pm for the private view to check them out if you are free, otherwise, the show is up until the 14th of Nov.

Get out of my frame protesters, you are ruining my shot

I came across this picture in one of the national papers a while back, the caption read 'Anger: Muslim protesters burn a U.S. flag and portrait of Pastor Terry Jones outside the American embassy in London'

Really should have read, Anger: Muslim protesters miss the burning of a US flag and portrait of Paster Terry Jones but will be catching it on TV and read about it in the papers.

Gallery Talk

I am doing a gallery event on the 21st of September, details below.

Hope to see you there.

Kurt Tong in conversation with Bridget Coaker of Troika Editions

Date: Tuesday 21 September, 19:00

Entry: £5 (£3.50 members)

Booking: Please call 020 7738 5774 to book.

Kurt Tong will be in conversation about the exhibition with Bridget Coaker of Troika Editions. They will discuss Tong's work as an example of a piece of documentary photography which is also popular in the fine art market. Bridget Coaker is curator, picture editor and Director of Photography for the online gallery Troika Editions. In 2009 she was Director of the Hereford Photography Festival. This exhibition showcases two recent projects from award-winning photographer Kurt Tong. In Case it Rains in Heaven is a series of photographs of items made out of joss paper to be burned as offerings for the dead, exploring Chinese traditions and beliefs regarding the afterlife and the impact caused by Westernisation. Memories, Dreams; Interrupted explores the concept of memories and the suggestion of scientists that they are stored like jpegs – broken down into small pieces and put away. When recalling an event, the brain automatically fills in any missing pieces, thus altering our memories. Click here for more information about the exhibition.

Private View

I am exhibiting 2 recent projects in my first London Solo show. Until the 26th of September, 'In Case it Rains in Heaven' and 'Memories, Dreams; Interrupted' will be on show at Photofusion, 17A Electric Lane, London, SW9 8LA.

Private view will be tomorrow, Thursday 5th of August between 18:30-21:00. Come along if you are free.

I will also be doing a conversation with Bridget Coaker, curator, picture editor and director of photography for Troika Editions, on Tuesday, 21st of September from 19:00.

Hope to see some of you there tomorrow.

22 Clicks from the Sea

While there has been lots of media coverage about the BP oil leak, there has also been a lot of talks about the journalists/photographers being detained, questioned by both corporate security staff and government authorities.

Although, sensitivities around the oil refineries along the Texas Gulf coast has been around long before the leak. I set off on a project (22 Steps to the Sea) along the gulf coast 2 years ago and I was stopped on numerous occasions, by the police, the fire department, the Coast Guards, the Homeland Security, all citing national security for the reason that I am getting stopped and moved on, even though I was photographing on public areas. 11 incidents later, FBI alert was mentioned, I had enough and abandoned the project.

However, with all the recent talks, I have decided to revisit the project. Since all the images from the project were taken along public roads, I was curious to see if I could take the same pictures on Google Map. Of the 25 images I chose for my edit, 21 were found on Google Streetview and the remaining 4 were available on satellite view. (Images will be uploaded to my website soon.)

Maybe I should finish my original project and continue along the coastline in the comfort of my own home. (before they switch Google off too...)

How much time do you spend photographing?

I often get asked by friends who are not photographers, how much time do I spend photographing. If I am being honest, probably about 5% of my working week. April was a bit of a blur for me. After going to Houston for Fotofest, I have been busy following up with all the new contacts I have made there. I was then busy looking into book printers as I was hoping to produce a catalogue for my up-coming shows, then I got nominated for a couple of grants and have been busy writing proposals for them.

Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful with the grants, decided that I can't really afford the catalogue and nothing solid has materialized from Houston (yet). So I can't help but think that I have wasted a month of my time in Hong Kong. I haven't taken a picture in over 5 weeks!

On a positive note, I have decided to extend my stay in Hong Kong as there's no way I would be able to finish my current project within the next two months. Also several images from my latest project will be previewed in a show in Arles this July which is brilliant. Here's a few of the early images from the project.

©Kurt Tong

©Kurt Tong

©Kurt Tong