Artist Statement

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From 2002, on-going photography project, various sizes. Courtesy of the artist.

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This on-going project of taking passport photo started from an accidental circumstance in London England in 2002. Since then, “Passport Photos” becomes a series of works that every time when I travelled, I took one or more passport photos in either photo booth or photo studio.

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These passport photos only show plain background with written date, time, place and price. But each of them has their own character, even though the protagonist is always me, the facial expression, the lighting, the colour shade of the background, the quality of the camera, the standard and aesthetics of the photographer and its ideology (in photography studio)… are always very different.

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It turned out that, these elements determined the outcome of each passport photo that they disclose distinct criterion of each place, culture and ideology. Owing to these, these passport photos are not only a record of my travel experiences; they are also not only evidence of ageing. Indeed they turn out to be an investigation and study of the relationship between my own identity and the cities I visited, as well as a study of habit and standard of each city with the flow of time. This happens also with the change of my mind, the modification of the cities and the transformation of the world as well.

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Wai Kit Lam

Hong Kong
6.2015

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