The Red Corporation is set in the Hong Kong of here and now. China 2019. This is one of two quasi-fictional series. I also call them ‘figment series’. Where the figment comes into play within this body of work, is that I choose to walk the streets of Hong Kong believing I'm immersed in a city riddled with spies. And in actual fact I'm really not far wrong making that assumption. Local newspaper headlines fuel my imagination; The SCMP; ‘Arrest of ex-CIA agent fuels Hong Kong's reputation as spy hotbed’, and 'Hong Kong still active as spy hub of the east’, and The Wall Street Journal declares, 'Hong Kong Riddled With British Spies'.
Letting my imagination run wild as I took to the streets of this former British territory, had a bizarre effect! My camera seemed to willingly tempt mysterious and ambiguous scenes out of the randomness of the street. All I had to do was walk and observe, and uncannily the world of John Le Carre appeared all around me. To be honest I am finding the process fascinating, that which as I delve into these self initiated quasi-fictional ideas, my camera seems to have a mind of its own. It willingly finds the frame and vibe for me. I certainly don’t ‘try’ force anything. Certainly not the story because a lot of what I do today is less about story and more about vibe. The vibe is the story, the narrative is the vibe.
Hong Kong with it's high human density and by extension crowded urban landscape, is an ideal place for 'clandestine activities' to take place. Within it's tech centres, industries, information nodes and transport/cargo logistics hubs, not to mention press and travel freedoms travel and open press credentials, Hong Kong is prime real estate for those who like to snoop and gather information deemed important to the security and or industrial and technological development of the TRC.
Letting my imagination run wild as I took to the streets of this former British territory, had a bizarre effect! My camera seemed to willingly tempt mysterious and ambiguous scenes out of the randomness of the street. All I had to do was walk and observe, and uncannily the world of John Le Carre appeared all around me. To be honest I am finding the process fascinating, that which as I delve into these self initiated quasi-fictional ideas, my camera seems to have a mind of its own. It willingly finds the frame and vibe for me. I certainly don’t ‘try’ force anything. Certainly not the story because a lot of what I do today is less about story and more about vibe. The vibe is the story, the narrative is the vibe.
Hong Kong with it's high human density and by extension crowded urban landscape, is an ideal place for 'clandestine activities' to take place. Within it's tech centres, industries, information nodes and transport/cargo logistics hubs, not to mention press and travel freedoms travel and open press credentials, Hong Kong is prime real estate for those who like to snoop and gather information deemed important to the security and or industrial and technological development of the TRC.
