香港湯:1826

‘Hong Kong Soup:1826’ is a series depicting waste plastic collected from over 30 different beaches in Hong Kong since 2012. Over 1,826 tonnes of municipal plastic waste goes into landfills EVERY DAY in Hong Kong, and each image reflects the diverse range of these products by highlighting recovered objects or groups that have escaped recycling or landfill.

The images directly relate to the traditions, events, nature, and culture of Hong Kong, with the intention of connecting with its people to provide awareness about the crisis facing effective waste management. Objects include products from manufacturing, retail, household and hazardous waste alongside agricultural, medical and fishing related debris.

湯 (SOUP) is a description given to plastic debris suspended in the sea, in this case with a direct reference to the waste crisis in Hong Kong. The series aims to engage with the public by stimulating an emotional response, combining a contradiction between initial aesthetic attraction with an awareness to encourage social responsibility.

All waste in this series has been collected over the past three years. It was photographed in both Hong Kong and the UK, representing a wide-ranging collection of debris that has existed for varying amounts of time on Hong Kong’s own doorstep.