End of an Era, Personal Project
In personal project, End of an Era, Kenneth applies his highly autobiographical and reflective approach to create a tender portrait of his ancestral home, in the Hong Kong New Territories.
Kenneth's multi-dimensional photographs combine portraiture, self-portraits, and carefully staged sets, using mundane objects from everyday life, that nod to the inevitability of change, and an acceptance of the ephemeral nature of life.
"The village has shown me how spoilt I am. How privileged I am. I don’t have to work relentlessly to get where I am. I don’t have to worry about food. I am spoilt and I’m Westernised. But it's my Chinese heritage that has been nurtured by the village, which enriches my work and my being. I've learnt personal lessons and work lessons from that village. There have been moments of grief and celebration, and watching how we "the villagers” and my elders deal with these situations, has hugely influenced my work. And so, my work is a conversation about the differences between the west and east - and my truth is told through the lens of my own experiences."
Kenneth Lam
Amid Hong Kong's strict lockdown restrictions, Kenneth travelled back to his grandmother's home village of Shan Pui Tsuen, spending two weeks quarantining in isolation in order to spend precious time with family.
The series takes it's title from the understanding that his memories of the village will fade once his grandmother passes.
Each day Kenneth wakes with his family, crosses the courtyard to his grandmothers' apartment, and together they follow the same daily routine.
A breakfast of warm congee, fresh Chinese baked goods, baos or dumplings bought by Lam's relatives earlier that day, followed by reading and a nap with his grandmother. At sundown, the day finishes with a trip to the Chinese wet market for fresh fruit, vegetables, and fish, and dinner at 6pm sharp. Kenneth's photographs are a window in to a village way of life that is fast being eroded by the creeping influence of the city and modernisation.
You can read more about the project .
