Hong Kong on Lomography 100 Film

Originally published on Lomography.com as “Around the World in Analogue: Hong Kong”

Hong Kong is a magical place. It's a city in-between cultures, ideologies, languages. Yet it's not confused about what it is. Unlike so many cities I've visited, Hong Kong is confident in its identity. People move with a purpose. Lush mountains cascade in the background as buildings old and new rise on either side of Victoria Harbour. Roads crisscross and overlap as a rush of taxis and ding-dings pass. The shadows of banyan trees stretch across the sidewalks in the harsh midday sun. I can still smell the egg waffles.

When I travel, I tend to document everything. I take mental notes, I snap photos. But, I think that there's a part of us that senses things in a way we can't really analyze or even describe. An imperceptible mark on our subconscious, hitching a ride back home with us at the end of the trip. We might not even know it's happening as we transit from one place to the next, getting lost in subway tunnels, stumbling into hole-in-the-wall restaurants, or making friends with locals. When we think back to those places, the traces of magic are rarely in the things we were focused on, but in the in-between.