Bauhinia rhapsody: artist SurrealHK’s absurd Hong Kong photomontages

Hong Kong can be a tough place to live. With its high cost of living, pricey property and long working hours, the city is highly strung, and it’s easy to get lost in the pressures of everyday life. But Hong Kong artist Tommy Fung – better known by his handle @SurrealHK – has a unique release. With his camera and Photoshop skills, Fung creates reality-bending artwork which takes on the inherent absurdities of life in the city – while preserving what’s unique about it at the same time.  

Embracing absurdity  

“Hong Kong is surreal in its own right,” says Fung. “There are skyscrapers, double-decker buses, minibuses, the tram – these are some of the quintessential sights of the city. I want to present my own whimsical take on them.”  

The results are deliberately exaggerated and provocative – from Hong Kong Island being blown away by a typhoon, to the Big Buddha wearing a face mask. Fung’s satirical representations of the absurdities of everyday life have struck a chord with the public, gaining him nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram and an ever-expanding list of branded collaborations.  

Epiphany on a ferry ride 

Fung’s family moved to Venezuela when he was just nine. When he moved back to Hong Kong in 2016, he could barely remember his birthplace, but he found much that inspired him, especially in the new: such as the East Coast Park Precinct in Fortress Hill, or the then under-development Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and M+ Museum.  

Sitting on board the Star Ferry one day, flanked by skyscrapers on both sides of Victoria Harbour, Fung wondered how the city could best be captured through photography – and why he hadn’t seen anyone creating composite photographs using scenes from Hong Kong. 

A year after his return to the city, he created the @SurrealHK Instagram account. His first post featured the Star Ferry itself, with Fung as a giant figure sitting on top of it – his first attempt to “capture a city through altered images”. With posts inspired by current affairs, social topics and daily life, he rapidly grew a following. 

“People associate image editing with memes that are vulgar, if not downright bullying. But Photoshopping, if done professionally and meticulously, can add value to photography, in both an artistic and emotional sense,” says Fung. 

Between “real” and “fake” 

Despite their surrealism, Fung’s works sometimes merge with reality – and speak to some of the city’s disappearing icons. A 2017 image of the fallen signboard of Leung Tim Choppers Factory in Sham Shui Po attracted a crowd of visitors to see the non-existent sight for themselves. Earlier this year, the sign really was removed after falling foul of regulations.  

Shipwrecked Jumbo Floating Restaurant, just one week before the vessel mysteriously capsized in the South China Sea – leading to SurrealHK’s followers dubbing him the “divine fortune teller”. Fung takes a more philosophical view: “Given time, all things will fade into oblivion,” he says. “We should cherish what we have before it’s gone.”  

Fung’s now started to attach a “photoshopped” disclaimer to his images. But that hasn’t stopped him from getting questions from overseas followers about Hong Kong’s downtown cable car, another figment of his imagination. For Fung, it’s only a good thing. “As SurrealHK becomes more popular, my works will spark discussion and interactions across the world – and will bring more people to Hong Kong,” he says.  

“Isn’t that fantastic?” 

Tommy Fung (@SurrealHK)’s favourite photomontages 

Flying Taxi Temple Street (2017) 

Inspired by Fung’s favourite film Back to the Future, this photo collage depicts the ubiquitous Hong Kong taxi as a time machine flying down the neon-lit streets of  Yau Tsim Mong district.

Infinity Choi Hung Estate (2018)  

This image shows Choi Hung Estate distorted in the style of the film Inception, making a satirical allusion to Hong Kong’s housing issues and triggering debate online. 

Causeway Bay Neon Signs (2022) 

This photo was featured in Fung’s 2022 exhibition in Sheung Wan. Here, he celebrates Hong Kong’s past by bringing back the iconic neon signs that once lit up the streets. 

Hero image: Elvis Chung