Photographer Gareth Brown grew up in a beautiful rural, yet, industrial, part of South Wales, UK, and had little exposure to art. “At the age of 12, the school art teacher saw my work and decided I had no artistic potential and I was reassigned to metalwork class, presumably”, Brown pauses, with a sardonic laugh, “to prepare me for a life in the nearby steelworks.”

But the universe had other things in store for Brown. Spurred on by an interest of what lay beyond, the young man studied and made his way to London, where he earned a degree in Chemistry. Part of the course introduced him to photographic processes, which, in turn, opened his eyes to photography. He was “captivated” and, though, today, he likes to spend as much time as he can in Wales, there would be no going back to the Bunsen burners.

“After university, I became a junior assistant for photographers and filmmakers, working on shoots for magazines such as ID and the Face, and filming music videos —and that’s where my training kicked in,” he shares.

A successful commercial photographer, who has become increasingly so through his company Blow Up Studios, Brown has produced campaigns for some of the region’s biggest brands.

He has lived in Hong Kong, a place he’s proud to call home, for 25 years, but shares that coming here was by chance. “My sister was working on the new [at that time] airport, and my parents planned a family reunion. I had no idea what Hong Kong looked like before I arrived, and, not surprisingly, it blew me away, so much so that I decided to relocate just three months later”, he says, recalling the then 1990’s British colony.

Sharing how his Bodies in Motion, Bodies at Rest series began, Brown says, “I was entranced by the natural beauty of Hong Kong and was surprised at how few people, westerners or local, seemed to know much about it beyond the beaches and the usual touristy hotspots. So I thought I’d start to document my travels.”

Brown emphasizes that the series, has been a necessary counterbalance to his other work, whereby he produces imagery within predetermined brand guidelines.

While he hastens to say that it’s not that he doesn’t like the commercial process, “I’m proud of some of the campaigns I’ve produced – especially the more conceptual ones”, he says, “The problem with shooting campaigns to a specific brief is you know pretty much how it’s going to end up looking before you’ve even shot it. Most of the content has already been agreed with the client, and so, increasingly, the shoot is about execution. A little voice in my head craves a return to a more instinctive improv style of shooting, where the controls and restrictions are reduced and commerce takes a back seat.”

According to Brown, the first images for Bodies in Motion, Bodies at Rest were taken in 2007. He calls the project a dance exploration of Hong Kong, with dancers from across the genres helping him to bring context to the SAR. “I’ve always loved dance. Visually, it’s the most exciting of the performance arts, so it seemed natural to combine my love of dance with my love for Hong Kong.”

“The location, be it Hong Kong Island, Kowloon or the New Territories, is always the starting point, the canvas if you like, while the dancers apply the brushstrokes,” he says, adding that the highlight of the project has been collaborating with dancers; some, principals of professional companies, others amateurs or students, however all, with a unifying love of dance.

“For me, dance is for everyone, and I hope the project will appeal to dance auteurs as well as laymen and ordinary dance aficionados. And collaboration doesn’t just involve the dancers, it also includes my crew and colleagues.”

“Most of the content is photographic stills, although in the last few years I’ve begun to experiment with video and other forms of moving image,” he says.

“The inspiration for my artwork is the multifarious communities in Hong Kong and their imprint. I’m fascinated by the culture, history and beauty of the territory, and the indomitable spirit of the people. I’m also passionate about dance, and its ability to express emotion through movement.”

For such a small piece of land, Brown says there’s been a lot of change and reinvention over the past few hundred years, and that there’s many more stories the HKSAR has to tell.

“Life has been, and continues to be, quite hectic and noisy. In my art, I try to find some time and space to listen. We should all strive to do a bit more listening in life.”