Surreal HK takes the things we know and love about our city and brings a whole new wacky perspective to it all. The man behind it all, Tommy Fung, is a sci-fi lovings movie fanatic who’s brought some of the Hollywoods classics to the Hong Kong landscape. Born in Hong Kong, Tommy soon moved and grew up in Venezuela, far from the city lights and buzz it was only 2 years ago that he moved back to the city. As a photographer and graphic designer by trade, he wanted to stand out from the pool of creatives that exist on Instagram – and boy has it worked!
Between the unexpected perspectives and references to Lord of the Rings are a few teaching moments – “Most of the time the images are for fun, but sometimes I try to be more serious about social issues, like land and housing…Many people don’t have access to good housing, and if they do, they often live in bad conditions. I have a few images talking about this problem.”
Finding his message is always the starting point, lucky for him he’s not short on getting inspired – “Because I didn’t grow here I am rediscovering the city, local people may be bored of all the scenery, but for me, it’s all new!”
Speaking of locals, not all of his followers grasp his humour or creativity. Amongst the praise are often messages like “fake”, where Tommy is forced to explain that yes, it is indeed fake, it’s Photoshop! On the other end of the spectrum, some people think the images are all too real. “I’ve had a few photos go viral, one featured a billboard with a giant knife falling, another a beach covered in trash. People shared these and were very concerned thinking it was real, I had to explain that they were photoshopped and are meant to share a message. People’s reactions are very interesting. ”
His creations are no small task, from ideation to photography then photoshopping, plenty of thought and manpower goes into a post. His favourite image, the flying taxi, which was inspired by Back to the Future, took 15 hours of photoshopping! The HK version of the DeLorean is set to the backdrop of a busy street and classic neon signs. “I hope this is the future of Hong Kong. Very traditional and futuristic at once.”
For those looking for a fresh perspective on Hong Kong, you can find Tommy’s works on Facebook and Instagram.