Political Photography

A couple of weeks back I had an unusual photographic opportunity. Fuel Espresso my favourite cafe in Hong Kong. Originally from New Zealand, they are a cool company with a great brand and a very compelling background story.

The owner asked me to take a few photos as they were due for a visit from the New Zealand trade commission. This was unlike other opportunities I’ve had and so it made sense to take on the challenge for the sake of experience. We talked and agreed a couple of setups and ideas before the day.

As happens, things didn’t go according to plan. The delegation was larger than expected and the locations and transitions didn’t occur as we had anticipated. Moreover, there was another photographer there, contrary to what I had been told, whose behaviour was, well, surprising. I can tell what camera and lens he was using because I got plenty of photos of them. Next time, I’ll know that waving your gear in front of the other guy every few seconds is normal professional behaviour.

Anyway, I’ve included a few of the more interesting shots below.

My goal was to capture a sense of political occasion; the feeling of engagement, debate and discussion. I was hoping to make the framing a little cramped, warm and emotional. I hope at least some of that came through in the images.