Urban Decay with Christine Yeung

Earlier this year, professional photographer Sam Inglis conducted a workshop Urban Decay, which took young people to the markets of Hong Kong. Guided by Sam who shared tricks of the trade and provided tips on composition, viewpoint and themes, participants learned how to capture powerful images of the city. We speak to Christine Yeung (17 years old, International College Hong Kong) about her experience at this workshop.

How come you decided to take part in it?
I first found out about the Urban Decay Photography workshop from a friend's recommendation. I personally wasn't too interested in photography. However, I'm studying visual arts as an IB course at the moment, so in the end I decided to explore this new medium of art.

‘Isolation’ – can you tell us more about why you chose that theme and how you captured images to follow that theme? 
The photographs that I've taken during the workshop wasn't just about isolation, it was to capture the beauty of Hong Kong's local environment. The beauty in the environment that most Hong Kong people miss as their pace of life is too fast. I wanted to use photography to capture a different perspective as I've been born and raised in this fast paced environment as well. Although, that is the mindset of why I've taken the many photographs that day, the theme of 'Isolation' came to me as I went through the photos at the end of the day. 'Isolation' not only meant that the subject matter in the photos conveyed sadness, independence and or loneliness. It also meant that I've isolated the subject matter of the photo from the fast paced world, as if I really did capture it.
 
What did you most enjoy learning?
I've learnt many different concepts from this workshop. The one that I've remembered the most was what Sam have said to me. He told me that instead of just taking a photo of an object, I need to take the photo in a perspective where it becomes an artwork itself and tells a unique story. That really inspired me to take most of the photos that I took that day. In addition, he also told me to take advantage of what I have, which was my height. I'm not very tall in comparison to the others who attended the workshop, thus my photos were taken at my eye-level.

What was the greatest challenge? 
The greatest challenge for me that day was to try and use my camera properly to create not just photographs but photos that tells a story.

What tip would you give other fellow youth photographers? 
The tips that I would give to other fellow youth photographers is to take advantage of what you've got, and don't worry about the quality of the photos, it's capturing the moment that's more important. In my opinion, sometimes the flaws makes the photo more interesting