Cheongsams (1961)
Yau Leung
Born in Hong Kong in 1941, Yau Leung is considered one of Hong Kong’s most significant and accomplished documentary photographers. In a style deeply reminiscent of his Western contemporaries Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank, he captured the very essence of the City through his evocative images of its people and streets
In parallel to working as a photographer for studios and editor for photography magazines, Yau Leung continued with his lifelong project photographing Hong Kong until the time of his accidental and untimely death in 1997.
His body of work now forms a most important and fascinating social documentary of the city and people of Hong Kong from the 1960’s to the 1990’s. His photographs are masterpieces of composition and light, the images compelling as they transport us back to the 1960’s, capturing the very soul and essence of Hong Kong.