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South African photographer Yolanda van der Mescht captures striking moments of life in Hong Kong. When we saw her photos on Instagram we had to know more about the eye behind the camera.
I have always been drawn to photography. When I moved to Hong Kong from South Africa in 2006, I started taking photographs with my mobile phone camera. I took photos of anything, whatever caught my eye. I have since upgraded to the Nikon D800 but I still love taking photographs on my phone, with Hipstamatic being my go-to app. Mobile phone photography is so convenient and it enables me to capture the spontaneity and instantaneity of the Hong Kong streets.
In Hong Kong I am in the midst of a constant flow of contrast and contradiction, like a voyeur on a living film set with unscripted scenes meticulously unfolding right in front of my eyes. Larger than life characters in incredulous settings. It seems surreal, fabricated but reality is always lurking beneath the surface.
I post most of my photographs on Instagram but I prefer not to manipulate or force crop them. I think Instagram is a great platform for sharing photographs as it is almost bereft of personal information which allows for an unadulterated, pure experience of visual content while still leaving enough space to evoke debate and opinion.
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For more from van der Mescht check out her photos on Instagram, Facebook, and her official website.
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