{"id":156980,"date":"2019-07-08T06:45:58","date_gmt":"2019-07-07T22:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehoneycombers.com\/hong-kong\/?p=156980"},"modified":"2024-12-01T20:24:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T12:24:44","slug":"tommy-fung-surrealist-photographer-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehoneycombers.com\/hong-kong\/tommy-fung-surrealist-photographer-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"A Flying Taxi? Surrealist artist Tommy Fung puts a grin on people’s faces with his whimsical art"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are so many great Hong Kong artists<\/a> adding colour, vibrance and an artistic perspective to the city. Luckily, we have a range of art galleries<\/a> and spaces, including Tai Kwun<\/a>, The Mills<\/a> and H Queens<\/a>, to showcase these talents. And one of our faves is Tommy Fung, a surrealist photographer we talked to during an exhibition at Hotel Jen Hong Kong<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interview with Tommy Fung<\/h2>\n

Having moved to Venezuela with his family at the age of nine, and later becoming a professional photographer there, Tommy Fung decided to start from scratch in Hong Kong when he came back to this vibrant city. Since putting his stunning surrealist photography on the internet in 2017, Tommy is now a renowned local surrealist artist with a dedicated following on Instagram. We chatted with him about becoming an unconventional photographer and to see why he\u2019s amazing at what he does. <\/p>\n

Hi, Tommy. Thanks for sitting down with us. What led you down this creative path of becoming a surrealist artist?<\/h3>\n

Hong Kong is a great city and I was hoping on my return that people here would be happy, but it turned out a lot of people here are really stressed and sad. I didn\u2019t understand why people were so unhappy in this city, but I want to cheer them up with my photography and artwork. There weren\u2019t any artists or photographers solely using photoshop as a tool to express themselves, so I thought why not give it a go, to do something different than others? I started doing that a year and a half ago, just to see whether people would like it or not, and as a fun hobby. The response turned out to be really good.<\/p>\n

\"Tommy
Tommy\u2019s work is currently being exhibited at Hotel Jen Hong Kong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Are there stories behind your work or are they more like random thoughts?<\/h3>\n

They\u2019re totally random! I see something interesting on the streets and I create something funny. Sometimes, I\u2019m watching the news (even if it\u2019s bad news), and I would want to express myself. I feel like one of the problems in Hong Kong is that people keep things bottled up and don\u2019t express themselves. With social issues like air pollution and land problems, I try to pick them up and share my point of view via photography. I\u2019m not saying that my opinion is right but it\u2019s just my perspective. If you don\u2019t agree, then let\u2019s have a discussion.<\/p>\n

Why are you drawn to creating surrealist artwork?<\/h3>\n

I don\u2019t know either. Maybe because the humour of Venezuela is very different from Hong Kong. So for those of us who have lived there, we can make fun of every situation. We don\u2019t take everything too seriously and we love exaggerating things. I think it\u2019s a great way to make your point more obvious. It started out as a style that I wanted to experiment with and it grew on me. I want to make people think that something is real but actually it\u2019s not – just to play with people\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n

\"Tommy
Tommy likes to make his work all related to Hong Kong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hong Kong is the main character in your work, what do you like about this cosmopolitan city?<\/h3>\n

Everything about Hong Kong is new and interesting to me. I used to visit my family here every now and then, but it\u2019s different now. This city is so special, packed with tall buildings, skyscrapers; however, just ten minutes away you get the mountains, the islands, the sea. You have the city and the natural resources all in one place, for me it\u2019s a perfect combination.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Surrealhk (@surrealhk)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n