When I headed to Hong Kong in December 2023, I had the idea of taking a night climbing shot at the crags above the skyscrapers, illuminated by headlamp. The photos that I most like to capture are those that capture a sense of adventure in extreme nature and that I haven’t seen anyone else capture before. Over the years, I’ve developed a fondness for photos taken at night. They just seem to ramp that sense of adventure up to another level - its a time when most people are in bed.
I wasn’t entirely sure how I would make the shot happen considering I didn’t have any familiarity with the climbing areas there, didn’t know any climbers in Hong Kong, only had personal climbing gear with me, and would need to convince someone to go on a night climbing adventure. However, I knew that if I could make it happen, I would end up with a pretty unique shot the likes of which couldn’t be taken in many other places around the world - there’s not many places I know of where you can climb right next to skyscrapers.
My first attempt to meet other climbers was to post on the Hong Kong Climbing Facebook group. I got no responses. Ok. Next attempt. Let’s try to meet climbers at a local climbing gym. Well, as it turns out, a day pass at Hong Kong climbing gyms costs 280 HKD (36 USD). Yep, that’s a no go. Final hail mary attempt. Just show up to a crag and hope there are other climbers there I can befriend. This worked quite well actually. After a very sweaty and unexpectedly sketchy approach involving rope sections, scrambling, and metal rungs drilled into a steep slab, I arrived at Central Crags where I met Connor, Ronny, and Emma- 3 locals who were kind enough to let me climb with them.
I told Ronny and Emma about my idea for a night climbing shot and a week and a half later, we headed back to Central Crags at night to see if we could make something cool. Conveniently, there was a bolt next to a ledge at the very end of the crag located halfway up the wall that I could clip myself into and just hang there to take shots from. And so, here is the shot that I got from that night.
This photo is one of my favorites I’ve ever captured not only because its unique, but also because of the story and memories behind it. I had no idea how I was going to make the shot happen at first, but by just persevering, trying out different avenues, and pushing myself a bit out of my comfort zone by just rocking up to the climbing area and asking strangers if I could climb with them, I managed to make it happen. Its such a beautiful reminder for me what amazing things can happen if you just put yourself out there.
- Ivan Chan
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