Actor Chow Yun Fat offers tips to fellow street photographer in Hong Kong

A Hong Kong-based street photographer has shared a wholesome encounter with Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun Fat.

The user known as Stacey (

@streetsnap.portrait

) posted on Instagram on Oct 1 about running into the actor while taking pictures in the historic colonial area of Hong Kong Island.

Chow, 70, was, like Stacey, out with his camera – and it resulted in him dishing out tips on street photography. In the video, the veteran could be heard saying: “In places with strong sunlight, you need to lower the exposure. If the highlights are overexposed, they will be hard to fix in processing.”

The video has been watched 1.6 million times and generated over 61,000 “likes” and 250 comments.

Stacey wrote: “It was a sunny day. I sat in the shade of the trees on Pottinger Street, enjoying the coolness and watching the world go by on Queen’s Road Central.

“A photographer caught my eye – he stood in the sunlight, studying the interplay of light and shadow on the street through his camera’s viewfinder.”

Stacey noted that most passers-by left Chow alone, even when they recognised him.

“Although he stood out in the crowd, few people went up to disturb his creative process. Most, like me, watched from a distance, quietly confirming that he was indeed the famous actor before moving on, delighted.”

After a few members of the public approached Chow for wefies, Stacey plucked up the courage to ask for one too, resulting in the Instagram video.

“Thank you, Fat Gor. I hope to continue pursuing photography – simply because I love it,” she added in the post. Fans call Chow “Fat Gor”, a term of familiarity and respect, which means “Brother Fat” in Cantonese.

In 2008, Chow published a photo book, Moving Pictures, a record of his travels and film work. He is known for his black-and-white photographs of urban street scenes, portraits and everyday life.

In 2024, he held a charity exhibition, Hong Kong Morning, showing 30 photographs of the streets and natural scenes of the former colony.

Chow is an icon for his work in Hong Kong action films such as A Better Tomorrow (1986) and Hard Boiled (1992). In Hollywood, he starred in the thriller The Replacement Killers (1998), but became known globally for his role in Lee Ang’s martial arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). He has also been in blockbusters like Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End (2007).

The star was in Singapore in early July as a guest presenter at the 30th-anniversary edition of the Star Awards. He attended the Mediacorp ceremony with his Singaporean wife Jasmine Tan.