About The Artist
Born in Hong Kong in 1977, Kurt gained his Masters in documentary photography at the LCC in 2006 and began working on much more personal projects exploring his Chinese roots and understanding of his motherland. ‘In Case it Rains in Heaven’, exploring the practice of Chinese funeral offerings, has been widely exhibited including a solo exhibition at Compton Verney and features in several public collections. A monograph of the work was published by Kehrer Verlag in 2011.
‘The Queen, The Chairman and I’, which reconnected the artist with his Chinese roots, is a multilayered narrative book dealing with the story of Hong Kong of the last 100 years and the Asian Diaspora through the lives of his own family. The work is presented as a Chinese teahouse. The project has been exhibited across four continents. The monograph was published by Dewi Lewis Publishing and Lianzhou Musuem of Photography in 2019.
‘Combing for Ice and Jade’, a love letter to the artist’s nanny, one of the few remaining self combed women in the world, has won him numerous awards and has been shown at the Himalayas Museum in Shanghai, Finnish Musuem of Photography, Esplanade Singapore and Rencontres d’Arles, China amongst others. A monograph of the work was published by Jiazazhi Press in 2019 and was named one of best Photobooks of 2019 by Time, El País, Esquire, Art Paper and others.
In 2021, Kurt was awarded the Prix Elysee by Musee Elysee in Switzerland. ‘Dear Franklin’, a tragic love story during WW2 will be published by Atelier EXB in 2022.
He is represented by The Photographer's Gallery in London and Up Gallery in Taiwan.
The Edge of the Horizon
By Kurt Tong
Chromaluxe Prints | Edition No. 3 | Panel 1 (Sunset): 76cm x 51cm, Panel 2 (Sunrise): 40.5cm x 51cm
Framed with back frame hanging
Traditionally, people think of photography as a medium to record far flung places, the exotics, the beautiful fleeting moments. In time, capturing sunset became one of the biggest cliche that everyone does, from professional to amateur alike. Since COVID restriction has severely limited our ability to travel, I have decided to capture the sunrise and sunset from the furthest edge of the photographic medium.
The sunset in the work is actually a scan of the very edge of a roll of processed photographic film, an ‘accidental’ sunset and sunrise, created unintentionally during the development process.
Chromaluxe Prints | Edition No. 3 | Panel 1 (Sunset): 76cm x 51cm, Panel 2 (Sunrise): 40.5cm x 51cm
Framed with back frame hanging
Traditionally, people think of photography as a medium to record far flung places, the exotics, the beautiful fleeting moments. In time, capturing sunset became one of the biggest cliche that everyone does, from professional to amateur alike. Since COVID restriction has severely limited our ability to travel, I have decided to capture the sunrise and sunset from the furthest edge of the photographic medium.
The sunset in the work is actually a scan of the very edge of a roll of processed photographic film, an ‘accidental’ sunset and sunrise, created unintentionally during the development process.
