Gary 'Gaz' Jones | Hungry Ghost Festival

Photo © Gary Jones | All Rights Reserved

Readers of this blog know full well of my current 'obsession' (photographically-speaking) with Chinese Opera and its various incarnations, especially when performed during religious festivals and events.

I've posted a number of posts on this blog on the Hungry Ghosts festival during my recent trips to Penang (Malaysia) and Hong Kong...so it's with pleasure that I found the lovely work of Gary 'Gaz' Jones documenting Chinese Opera actors and performers during the festival in his city of Hong Kong.

A combination of color and monochrome images in his gallery Hungry Ghost Festival show us the versatility of these actors, and the various roles and types of make-up. 

Equally interesting is Sunset Survivors; a book project in which Mr Jones is involved along with its writer, Ms Lindsay Varty. The book tells the stories of Hong Kong’s traditional tradesmen and women through imagery and interviews. It covers a number of curious professions that are quickly falling into obscurity, from fortune telling to face threading and letter writing to bird cage making in the streets of old Hong Kong.

For those interested, here's the South China Morning Post article that includes a sample of the photographs and interviews.

Gary Jones has lived in Hong Kong since 1990. He has been in the creative business since 1978, working as a designer and creative director both in London and Hong Kong. He currently runs his own creative consultancy in the city, which he set up in 1992. Fascinated by photography from his years at Art College in Hull, Gary now specializes in food, portrait and documentary photography, predominantly in black and white, using both film and digital cameras. He is a member of the Royal Photographic Society and holds an LRPS Distinction.