Steeped in a surreal world of cross-over images of Hong Kong and Vancouver, the photographic works of T-B allude to the miseries faced by the Hong Kong diaspora and Hong Kongers in exile, a once hidden but now apparent theme. Tête-bêche* is an ongoing collaboration by T (Hong Kong photographer) and B (Vancouver based multimedia artist). They take photographs of their respective cities and exchange the film rolls with each other for a second exposure, resulting in unpredictable tête-bêche overlapping images.
The T-B duo were acquainted in Hong Kong since childhood. External factors have prevented them from living in the same city, but their friendship has fostered their cooperation across the oceans throughout the years.
Composed of a series of poetic images where urban landscape and protest scenes of Hong Kong and Vancouver merge and blur, the project meditates upon the questions of memory, history, destiny and probability. This is an unusual photographic process that the subject matter is no longer derived from the photographers' conscious will but from the merged realities found in their dialogues. The cross-over protest scenes from the two cities negotiate the theme of perseverance and persistence of the Hong Kong people, no matter where they live now.
In the context of political turmoil in Hong Kong, their motives of preservation and recollection further symbolize the dispersion and resistance.
Profile: T-B
Project Tête-bêche* was inspired by Yichang Liu’s 1972 influential novel, Intersection. The works have been exhibited in Vancouver, Pomona CA, Vancouver, Taipei and Hong Kong, and were collected by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. T practises conceptual photography. He finds himself continually returning to those revealing aspects of Hong Kong history, which lead him to the theme of time, history and fate. His works have been exhibited in various cities and were collected by private and public collections. B began to develop an interest in multimedia arts in Hong Kong and he later moved to Canada to further his studies in the 90s. His works involved dreamy images and electronic technology. Currently stationed in Vancouver, B is continuing to create formally eccentric sculpture and installation for exhibitions in North America and Asia.
* French for head-to-tail
T studied photography at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is currently an art educator in Hong Kong. His major exhibitions include:
1841-2020, 2020 Hong Kong
INTERSECTIONS, 2019 Vancouver
TÊTE-BÊCHE⇋PARAMITA, 2015 Pomona CA, 2014 Vancouver, Taipei and Hong Kong
REPORT TO KING, 2009 Hong Kong
B acquired a Master of Fine Arts in University of Victoria. His recent exhibitions include:
INTERSECTIONS, 2019 Vancouver, Canada
Digital Carnival, 2018 Vancouver, Canada
Cascade, 2016 Lethbridge, Canada
TÊTE-BÊCHE⇋PARAMITA, 2015 Pomona CA, 2014 Vancouver, Taipei and Hong Kong
Art & Democracy, 2014, Los Angeles, U.S.A.