London-based photographer Naomi Wong discusses her debut photobook: 後生仔 Young Man
It is a book rooted in the London-based photographer's personal history. Raised in the North of England by her mother, Wong had limited contact with her Hong Kong-based father during her childhood.
While she grew up hearing fragments of his life in the UK—stories of him studying English in the 1980s and working at a local Chinese restaurant—she never had a clear picture of his past. “Hearing bits about him always came from others, never directly from him” Wong recalls.
The turning point came last Christmas, during a visit to her family home in Scunthorpe. Her aunt discovered a collection of old photographs of her father from the 1980s, nearly discarded. “I had never seen them before, and I felt like I was learning so much about my dad through these lost photos,” Wong says. This discovery sparked Wong’s desire to learn more about the lives of young Chinese men in Britain, especially given the lack of records and the misrepresentation of ESEA (East and Southeast Asian) men in mainstream media.
Wong approached casting for the project through Instagram and mutual friends. She prioritized diversity, to showcase men from different backgrounds, upbringings, and professions. “Despite our differences, we all connected over feelings of not quite fully belonging to the UK, even if it’s home,” she reflects.
These shared experiences of dual cultural identities became the emotional core of the book. “When you're creating intimate work, it’s important it comes from the heart. That’s when genuine connections happen,” Wong adds, noting that many of her subjects have since become close friends.
There is a strong nostalgic element to the images in Young Man. Her interest in photography was sparked by her older sister, who introduced her to photographers and magazines during her university years. “I was also a Tumblr kid,” she adds. “I spent so much time exploring and finding all these image-makers and films that have really meant a lot to me.”
She primarily shoots with film, something she says "feels like a memory," valuing its imperfections and colours, and is deeply influenced by Wong Kar-wai’s films, drawn to the way in which "characters’ emotions are beautifully portrayed in ordinary settings". This influence is evident in the warm, naturalistic lighting and colours throughout the book, which lend her portraits a cinematic quality, as well as in the physical closeness between photographer and sitter.
Young Man is a compelling, sensitive, and beautiful piece of visual storytelling. The soft, candid portraits are captured with a sensitivity and softness that engenders a sense of intimacy, while the interviews that accompany them. Reflecting on the work, Wong says she hopes to foster understanding and spark conversations about identity and representation. “I hope it shines a light on the Chinese male experience in the UK and encourages more people to share their stories,” she says.
後生仔 Young Man is available via Naomi's website.
