Hong Kong is often dismissed as a concrete jungle, a cultural desert. It’s almost as if to suggest this city only consists of high-rises and has nothing else to contribute. People who still think like this either don’t know Hong Kong very well, or perhaps are too tied up in their own busy lives to take note of just how many varied and fascinating views the city has to offer, and the breadth of talents of Hong Kong people.
Urban Diary's series on ‘Hidden artists' begins with Joanne Leung Po-wah.
Everyone in the news field knows Joanne – she is an immensely well-respected journalist. But I see Joanne as both a journalist and an artist. Joanne’s chosen medium is photography, her studio the public park. With care and patience, she captures the natural beauty butterflies, birds, stray cats, flowers, trees and leaves, and their changes throughout the year. Instead of a traditional exhibition space, she displays her works on social media.
Hong Kong gets more troubled by the day, as everyone's concerns about the future grow. Joanne’s works have an incredible normalising power, which is precisely what she at her friends need at this time.