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Ho Sau
Ho Sau
Photography artist
Sex: Male Birthyear: 1925 Age at Interview: 85 Education: Secondary Occupation: Driver Theme: Art and Culture, Social Life Ho accompanied his mother to visit their relatives in Hong Kong, but during their stay they learned of the news that Guangzhou was bombarded by the Japanese. For safety reasons, Ho stayed to study at the subsidiary primary school of Man Fan School. After the death of his mother, Ho moved to Macau to live with his father and pursued secondary studies, but then the Pacific War broke out and Ho Sau was forced to terminate his studies. He returned to Hong Kong to seek work opportunities and work in a Chinese restaurant introduced by his uncle.
Title Study interrupted by war Date 31/03/2010 Subject Social Life Duration 2m12s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YY-HS-HLT-001 With his studies repeatedly interrupted by war, Ho Sau remained passionate in his pursuit of knowledge and has been a loyal listener of the English programme hosted by Wong Jok-ki on Radio Rediffusion. He also learned English from the textbook English Echo. His daily English conversations with his expatriate employer when he was working as a chauffeur also enriched his vocabulary. One immediate benefit of learning English was that Ho was able to give his photos English titles when he decided to participate in international salon photography competitions.
Title Pursuit of English learning Date 31/03/2010 Subject Social Life Duration 2m40s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YY-HS-HLT-002 In early 1950s, Ho Sau got a driving license. Through a friend's introduction, he worked as a personal driver for Mr. B.C.K. Hawkins, the then Secretary for Chinese Affairs . In 1957, Mr Hawkin's retired from the government and returned to England. With Mr Hawkin's support, Ho Sau was accepted by the Kowloon Motor Bus to work as a bus driver.
Title Bus driver Date 31/03/2010 Duration 1m25s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YY-HS-HLT-003 Instead of paying attention to the equipment merely, Ho Sau took photos with great compositional depth and quality. He was proud of winning by photography technique rather than by equipment.
Title Winning by photography technique Date 31/03/2010 Subject Art and Culture Duration 52s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YY-HS-HLT-004 Without taking lessons, Ho managed to develop on his own a pictorial photography style. He used stringent methods to accentuate the subject and simplify the background.
Title Accentuation of subject in pictorial photography style Date 31/03/2010 Subject Art and Culture Duration 1m18s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YY-HS-HLT-005 Ho Sau was a member of ROYAL in the UK and PSA in the USA. He learned about the international salon competitions through the publications of these organizations. He chose to participate in certain competitions which published the award-winning photographs in good quality publications. His purpose was to let Hong Kong photographs appear on renowned international photography publications.
Title Competition information from internatinal salon membership Date 31/03/2010 Subject Art and Culture Duration 5m9s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YY-HS-HLT-006 The first photography contest that Ho Sau participated was the worker's life photography competition run by the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions in 1961. The work he submitted was named "The Mathematical Addition".
Title First championship won in Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions Date 31/03/2010 Subject Art and Culture Duration 2m10s Language Cantonese Material Type Audio Collection Oral History Archives Repository Hong Kong Memory Project Note to Copyright Copyright owned by Hong Kong Memory Project Accession No. YY-HS-HLT-007