Archive-14

Archive
Number 14
2025-04-06
Edited by: LEE KA-SING AND HOLLY LEE ARCHIVE
kasingholly.com kasingholly@gmail.com
Thousand Objects
Holly’s Self Portrait in
1986
(POLAROID, 4x5 inch, colour, 1986)
Holly Lee’s widely recognized
series Pictures of Friends,
Artists, and Others includes a
self-portrait. Recently, we
unearthed a Polaroid test shot of
this self-portrait in our archives,
taken on June 25, 1986. Within
the negative storage box for this
series, there are also two 4x5
black-and-white negatives, but
they have never been printed—
not even as contact prints.
楚 喬 自 拍 像 1986
楚 喬 廣 為 人 知 的 「 我 的 朋 友 , 藝 術
家 及 其 他 」 系 列 , 也 包 括 了 一 幀 自
拍 像 。 最 近 在 檔 案 中 翻 出 這 張 使 用
作 試 光 的 寶 麗 來 照 片 , 攝 於 1986 年
6 月 25 日 。 該 照 片 在 系 列 的 底 片 儲
存 匣 中 , 藏 有 兩 張 黑 白 4 乘 5 底 片 ,
只 是 從 來 沒 有 放 出 過 相 片 , 甚 至 直
印 照 片 也 沒 有 。

Self-portraits of two photographers
Holly Lee (written in 2020), reprinted from DOUBLE DOUBLE 1009-2020
1
One very interesting topic in photography, for me, is self-portrait. In the past,
Ka-sing and I had been invited several times to produce our own portraits.
The two self-portraits published here was another attempt in 2002, featured in a
group show organized by Gallery 44 in Toronto.
What do people expect to see in a self-portrait, especially one taken by the
photographer himself, whose normal practice is just being an observer? Would
he see only a mirror in front of him, his true “flipped” likeness, or would he work
on a staged, preferred image to present to the viewer? That is a very interesting
question. Sometimes, the photographer may decide to disappear altogether -
hanging in limbo, or take the form of a piece of crumbed up newspaper. Could
the fact be established then, if one leafs through pictures of self-portraits, he is
looking simultaneously, through every taker’s mind and body?
In my 2002 self-portrait, I picked up a scene that’s been stuck in my head
for many years. Sometime in 1975, I rented a room from a lady and became
her housemate. Her husband was a sailor, and often went out to sea. My room
was small, but it had a window which gave me the most extraordinary view -
thousands of small wooden houses cascading down the foot of the hill. They
were built by Chinese refugees who occupied the hill at the end of the 50s
and subsequently transforming it into an empire of wooden huts. At night, I
could always see millions of eyes laughing, and blinking at me. I used to put a
formica square folding table (now considered retro…) in front of the window as
my working desk. I loved working there, looking straight out of the window and
getting lost in the magical forest of a thousand eyes. I even wrote a poem for the
scene, saying that every night I was meeting a giant Christmas tree. So for the
self-portrait here, I was trying to recreate this dramatic episode, only this time
I wanted to look out to the cosmos, to meet and greet the twinkle twinkle little
stars. Yet being in the city, in Trinity Bellwoods Park it’s hard to see any stars.
Instead they winked and glittered in my imagination, and I could only hear leaves
rustling in the gentle breeze.
Holly Lee, self portrait, 2002
8x8 inches, archival pigment print

2
For the self-portrait, there is a certain similarity to the way that I worked
comparing to Ka-sing. We worked from memories. Around 2002, Ka-sing was
working on an exhibition, a series he called dot hong kong, in which he used
the concept of re-photographing his old takes, to find new vision from originally
existed images. Thus, for two years he continued to explore the idea through
another exhibition, and realized the work in The Language of Fruits and
Vegetable, a collaboration piece with Leung Ping-kwan in 2004. In this way of
working, I like to think, over the years the chef had prepared many delicious
dishes, and finally gets time to sit down, to taste, and walk through from where
he’d obtained the ingredients, in what way he’d cooked, while happily recalling
people and friends who had shared the experience. In this extremely slow tasting
process, everything must have been delicately examined, and the undertaking,
deeply satisfying. In Ka-sing’s self-portrait, my blurred face was in the front.
That also makes me aware that, I am never too far from the corners of his mind.
Thousand Objects
Holly’s Self-Portrait in 1983
(POLAROID, 4x5 inch, colour, 1983)
In 1983, the Hong Kong Arts Centre held an exhibition on artists’ self-portraits,
and both of us were invited to participate. The photographs were all standardized
to 20x24 inches, with the organizers handling the lab work. The photographs from
that exhibition are still preserved, though I haven’t been able to locate them at
the moment. However, here is a Polaroid of Holly’s photograph, originally taken
as a test shot.
At the time, we were living on the second floor of an old building at 13 Prince
Lee Ka-sing, self portrait, 2002
8x8 inches, archival pigment print

Terrace. It was a traditional
structure with a ceiling height of
over 13 feet. It was because of our
time living on Prince Terrace that
we grew fond of the area, which
later led to the establishment
of our studio there. This studio
was eventually transformed into
OP Fotogallery, now a collective
memory of contemporary
photography in Hong Kong. Since
the early 1980s, we had been
scouting properties on Prince
Terrace for a studio, and in 1991,
we finally found a ground-floor
residential unit, which we made
substantial alterations to.
Holly’s photograph was taken in
the bedroom, using a 90mm focal
length lens. It essentially reflects
the original environment of that
time, without any significant
changes to the arrangement. At
the bottom of the photograph
is the French edition of ZOOM
magazine. Much of our knowledge
and perspective on photography
was shaped by such publications.
In the mirror, Holly is seen while
pregnant with our daughter, Iris.
楚 喬 自 拍 像 1983
1983 年 , 香 港 藝 術 中 心 辦 了 一 個
關 於 藝 術 家 自 拍 像 的 展 覽 , 我 們 兩
人 都 是 被 ? 請 之 列 。 照 片 統 一 為
20x24 吋 , 主 辦 單 位 已 有 照 片 製 作
的 安 排 。 我 們 兩 人 當 時 展 覽 的 照 片
還 保 存 著 , 不 過 一 時 未 能 找 出 。 楚
喬 的 照 片 , 手 頭 卻 存 有 一 張 當 時 測
試 用 的 寶 麗 來 。 那 個 時 候 , 我 們 住
在 太 子 台 13 號 2 樓 , 一 房 舊 式 建
築 物 , 樓 底 高 達 13 多 呎 。 也 是
因 為 住 在 太 子 台 , 喜 歡 上 了 這 環
境 , 為 我 們 後 來 在 太 子 的 影 室 埋
下 了 伏 筆 。 該 影 室 也 即 是 日 後 改
動 成 為 OP 攝 影 畫 廊 , 一 項 香 港
當 代 攝 影 的 集 體 回 憶 。 我 們 自
80 年 代 初 , 不 斷 留 意 太 子 台 可
適 合 作 影 室 用 途 的 物 業 , 終 於 在
1991 年 覓 得 一 地 面 住 宅 單 位 ,
作 了 很 大 的 改 動 。 楚 喬 的 照 片 拍
於 睡 房 , 使 用 一 枚 90mm 焦 距 的
鏡 頭 。 基 本 上 是 當 時 原 來 環 境 ,
無 特 別 調 動 擺 設 。 下 方 擺 著 的 是
法 文 版 ZOOM 攝 影 期 刊 。 我 們 對
攝 影 的 知 識 及 看 法 , 便 是 從 此 等
不 同 刊 物 成 長 開 來 。 鏡 中 的 楚
喬 , 懷 中 即 是 小 女 兒 思 菱 。