Fan Ho - Photographs from the Martin Z. Margulies Foundation New York Thursday, April 4, 2024 | Phillips

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  • As a teenager, Chinese photographer and filmmaker Fan Ho received a Kodak Brownie camera from his father marking the beginning of a lifelong interest in and passion for the medium. His black-and-white images of Hong Kong in the 1950s and 60s parallel the street photography of his American and European contemporaries with a highly stylized aesthetic that is uniquely his own. 

     

    Taken in 1947 when he was just 16 years old and still living in Shanghai, Back Alley Shine, China showcases the hallmarks of his photographic style. From the tranquil scene of the urban marketplace to the dramatic play of light and shadow that places the central figures in silhouette, it is an image that celebrates and immortalizes the daily lives of the city’s inhabitants. 

    • Provenance

      Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, 2007

    • Exhibited

      Shared History: Photographs from the Martin Z. Margulies Collection, Ritter Art Gallery, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, 24 January – 7 March 2020

106

Back Alley Shine

1947
Gelatin silver print.
11 x 13 1/4 in. (27.9 x 33.7 cm)
Signed, titled, and dated in ink and multiple credit and usage stamps, all canceled in pencil or ink, on the verso.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$7,000 - 9,000 

Sold for $10,160

Contact Specialist

Caroline Deck
Senior Specialist, Photographs
cdeck@phillips.com

Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Chairwoman, Americas
vhallett@phillips.com

Photographs from the Martin Z. Margulies Foundation

New York Auction 4 April 2024