Benny Lam Subdivided Flats
Trapped 03, 2012.
Trapped 02, 2012.
Trapped 01, 2012.
Trapped 04, 2012.
Trapped 05, 2012.
Trapped 06, 2012.
Trapped 08, 2012.
Trapped 07, 2012.
Trapped 09, 2012.
Artist's statement
Forty square feet can be the size of a toilet, a kitchen, or a balcony. It is just enough for three or four people to lie down, four or five swivel chairs, or 57 pieces of tiled A4-sized paper. But for some people, it is the size of the entire house that they call home.
The tiny space in this house compels you to do everything on or around the bed: sleeping, washing vegetables, having meals, writing letters, and watching TV. For some people, it is also where the children do homework and play games. Living here is like being trapped in a cage. Dilemma is what it’s all about. If you need to catch your breath, stay in this trap and entertain yourself.
About the photographer
1967, Hong Kong
Chinese
Hong Kong
Benny Lam, professional Hong Kong-based photographer, graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design, Canada. He is a member of HKIPP, works for multiple local and international brands and advertising agencies. Over the last ten years, Benny has been active in a range of creative media, but recently has devoted his time to show, through photography, the condition of Hong Kong’s fringe communities. From affluent to fringe areas, from business to public good, he walks around the streets and alleys of older districts, using lights and viewpoints to capture scenes not usually seen in the city to record the lives of hidden communities.
For years, he has won numerous local and international awards, such as The Best Photography in HK4As Kam Fan Awards, the Communication Arts Award, Grand Prix in ADSA International Non-profit and Social Advertising Award, LongXi Awards, and Award of Excellence in Photography at Global Society for News Design Awards. Some of Benny’s works were selected by the well known creative and art magazines like Archive, European Photography and Pro Photographer etc., and were displayed in the DOX Centre of Contemporary Art in Prague, Czech.
Space Shortlist
Richard Mosse, Heat Maps, 2016
Mandy Barker, Beyond Drifting: Imperfectly Known Animals, 2015
Saskia Groneberg, Büropflanze, 2012
Beate Gütschow, S Series, 2004-2009
Benny Lam, Subdivided Flats, 2012
Michael Wolf, Tokyo Compression, 2008-2010
Munem Wasif, Land of Undefined Territory, 2014-2015
Pavel Wolberg, Barricades, 2009-2014
Rinko Kawauchi, Ametsuchi, 2012
Sergey Ponomarev, Europe Migration Crisis, 2015
Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map, 2010-2016
Thomas Ruff, ma.r.s, 2013