Donkey, camera, and auld lang syne Trailer

Double Double 2022-02

DOUBLE DOUBLE 2022-02
Donkey, camera, and auld lang syne
A Holly Lee and Lee Ka-sing Publication
First published in Canada by OCEAN POUNDS
February 2022
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Photography, Visual Art, Poetry, Literature, Culture
Authors: Lee Ka-sing, Holly Lee, Bill Burns, Tomio Nitto
ISBN: 978-1-989845-25-7
Copyright © Ocean Pounds 2022
Individual Copyrights belongs to the Artists and Writers.
All Rights Reserved.
For information about permission to reproduce material from
this book, please write to mail@oceanpounds.com
DOUBLE DOUBLE was published as a weekly webzine from
January 2019 to December 2021. A total of 158 issues were
published. Full archives available online:
https://oceanpounds.com/blogs/doubledouble
Some of the issues were re-packaged and published as
print-on-demand paperback editions.
Since January 2022, DOUBLE DOUBLE has become a
monthly publication, released in both paperback (POD) and
e-book versions, available for orders online at BLURB
(blurb.com), or at OCEAN POUNDS in Toronto.
Design and editorial by DOUBLE DOUBLE studio
www.doubledouble.org
Donkey, camera,
and auld lang syne
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Cover: a photograph by Yau Leung
End Pages: Lee Ka-sing
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Bill Burns
The Salt, the Oil
the Milk

The following pictures are about my long-duration performance work called The Salt, the Oil the
Milk. They tell about how the things we trade between each other, often called commodities,
produce meaning. The first picture - of a promotional poster on a street in Sao Paulo - is followed
by a group of pictures of a live performance, which is followed by a group of drawings about animals
and advanced industrialism. The performance took place at the Oculus Pavilion in Toronto. The
performance involved four goats, three goat farmers, a litre of goat’s milk, three Georgian chanters,
a new song about the largest corporations in the world, two donkeys who carried salt, two donkey
keepers, a brass band, a beekeeper, many bees, a jar of honey, a master of ceremonies, a producer,
many artists and observers, and several kilograms of salt. At the end of the day I mixed milk, honey
and salt together. This was called “The Mixing of the Milk and Honey and Salt”.
This salt, the several kilograms of salt that the two donkeys carried, came from the Windsor Salt
Company which operates salt mines located at a large deposit under Detroit, Michigan and Windsor,
Ontario. This salt was unloaded at a modern concrete building, whose floating roof has a big hole
in the middle, known as the Oculus Pavilion. The Oculus Pavilion is located on the banks of the
Humber River on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, including the Mississaugas of the Credit,
Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat. This part of the Humber River is traditionally known as the
Toronto Carrying-Place and has been an important trading area for about 11,000 years. The brass
band played songs about love and tears while the Georgian Chanters sang about industry, chickens
and bees.
The reader will not be surprised to learn that people have been trying to figure out what our things
mean, how trading them creates tension, and why their value keeps changing for a long, long time.
I am not the first to suggest that how we value and understand things, whether trees, honey bees, or
microwave ovens, is tied intimately to knowledge, technology and mythology. Some of my pictures
are documents of events that have already occurred while others should be considered pre-documents
because they are about events that have not yet occurred. My small contribution builds on the work of
many people including fishers, farmers, wanderers, anthropologists, economists, and of course artists.
Bill Burns
Vancouver, February 2022

The following pages are of drawings by Bill Burns,
from his cross-media work The Salt, the Oil the
Milk. Eighteen water-colour and pencil drawings
on paper, approximate size: 145 mm x 192 mm.

Bill Burns was raised in a book selling family
in Saskatchewan where he learned about art
and books from monks and poets. His projects
about nature and advanced industrialism have
been shown and published widely including at
the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; KW
Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Mendes
Wood DM, Sao Paulo; the Museum of Modern
Art, New York; the Museum of Art, Seoul; and the
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
His artists’ books and audio works include Bird
Radio, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther Koenig
and KW Berlin and Cologne: 2011; The Flora and
Fauna Information Service, ICA London: 2008;
Hans Ulrich Obrist Hear Us, YYZ BOOKS and Black
Dog Publishing. Toronto and London: 2016; and
the Power 100 Meta List, Verlag Mark Prezinger,
Vienna: 2018. His editions are included in
collections at Cabinet des Estampes, Geneva; Tate
Britain, London; the Museum of Modern Art, New
York; and the Getty Center, Los Angeles.
Bill believes that autoroutes should now be
ploughed under to make room for more wild birds,
flowers, vegetables and goats.
http://billburnsprojects.com

Holly Lee
The Distancing Years:
Photographs of Hong
Kong from 50s to 70s

The young assistant
As a young boy, Lee Ka-sing 李 家 昇 assisted his father in photo assignments, carrying tripods,
cameras and other gadgets required for shooting. A self-taught photographer with work ranging
from commercial to documentary, his father, Lee Bo-Kam 李 保 淦 was active among the Chinese
photographic circle from the early 60s to the 90s. For this reason, Ka-sing was introduced to the
community belonging to an early era in Hong Kong’s photography scene - known as the “pictorial”,
or “salon” period. Ka-sing had met and become acquainted with photographers, who were much older
than he. Among the photographers, the work of Mak Fung 麥 烽 , Ngan Chun-Tung 顏 震 東 and Yau
Leung 邱 良 impressed him most. After Ka-sing set up his photography gallery in the 90s, he began
to represent their work from the last few decades, alongside contemporary photo work by Hong Kong
photographers.
Chronicling old Hong Kong
Following decades of economic success, the photography scene in Hong Kong in the early 80s rapidly
changed with time, shifting from traditional “pictorial” style to “self-expression”, experimental,
alternative, photo-journalism and the more practical “commercial” photography. To put it simply,
photographs that stressed merely on beauty, tonality, and composition were not enough, or not in
vogue. The genres of photography radiated in hundred blooms, in a new age with new voices. It
seemed to go against the current then, Ka-sing would re-examine an earlier period of photography
and consider bringing them back to the forefront. He had seen pictures of Hong Kong taken by
Mak in the 40s, before he was born. Ngan Chun-Tung’s Hong Kong photographs from the 50s were
equally impressive, and last but not the least, Yau Leung, who ran the magazine PHOTO ART, had
also produced remarkable photographs of Hong Kong from the 60s to 70s. Though Ka-sing was living
in a different period, he could recognize photography was, at its fundamental level, a medium best
witnessed, captured and documented the past decades of Hong Kong and its people’s lives. While
endorsing the value of these photographs, he reminisced over the days when he was growing up, all
the more reason to look at these pictures with nostalgic eyes.

COLLECTION
Mak Fung
Yau Leung
Ngan Chun-tung
Vintage Photographs
of Hong Kong from
the collection of
Ka-sing and Holly
Photographs from Hello Hong Kong, a book of
100 vintage photographs (to be published soon)
from the collection of Ka-sing and Holly.

Mak Fung 麥 烽 (1918-2009)
Being the eldest of the three
photographers, Mak Fung began
his photographic practice in the late
1940s, using a small darkroom at
home. In the 70s, besides lecturing on
photography, he was also Honorary
Fellow of the Chinese Photographic
Association of Hong Kong and
Asian Photographic Association of
Singapore. In 1984, Mak became
editor of Photo Pictorial, Hong
Kong’s longest and most influential
photography magazine. As the first
generation of photographers after
WWII, Mak Fung’s role was significant
in photographing and documenting
Hong Kong. Fung Mak has two books
published: The Wind, The Sunshine,
and The Foliage (1992), and Hong
Kong Once Was (1997).
Star Ferry and Blake Pier (1971)
by Mak Fung
On the left is the Blake Pier, with Star Ferry Terminal on the right.
8x10 inch, gelatin silver photograph printed in the nineties
OP Selection, edition 4/100, signed and titled on verso

Yau Leung 邱 良 (1941-1997)
Yau Leung was born in Hong Kong.
He is one of the most significant
and accomplished documentary
photographers in the city. Working
in a style inspired by Henri Cartier-
Bresson and Robert Frank, he
captured the very essence of the
City through evocative images - its
bustling streets, people and activities
frozen in pivotal moments. Yau
Leung worked as a photographer for
studios in his earlier days, and later
as editor for photography magazines,
helping to promote the work of others.
Through his busy life, Yau had not
ceased to be an active photographer,
he kept pursuing his lifelong project
of documenting Hong Kong, until
his accidental death in 1997. His
body of work, indisputably forms
the most important and fascinating
social documentary of people living
in Hong Kong from the 1960s to the
1990s. Yau has several monographs
published: 60s/70s Image of Hong
Kong (1992); 60s/90s Growing Up in
Hong Kong (1994); Photo Hong Kong
1950s-1970s (1996); City Vibrance:
Hong Kong 1940s-1990s (1997);
Images of Hong Kong 1960s-1970s
(1999).
Two Women (Gloucester Road, 1961)
by Yau Leung
Taken on Gloucester Road, Wanchai, an area in the red light district bristling with bars and restaurants
frequented by expatriates and seamen in the U.S. navy.
8x10 inch, gelatin silver photograph printed in the nineties
OP Edition, edition 16/20, signed on verso

Lee Ka-sing
camera etc
Tomio Nitto
11 drawings on
camera

Linhof Super Technika
IV, 4x5
從 60 年 代 初 到 90 年 代 , 這 具 應 該 是 父 親 使 用 得 最 多 的 照 相 機 。1962 年 我 回 到 香 港 不 久 , 有
天 晚 上 看 到 父 親 在 桌 上 把 弄 著 這 具 照 相 機 如 糖 心 玩 物 , 後 來 才 知 悉 , 此 物 是 印 刷 公 司 客 戶
送 他 的 。 父 親 自 立 職 戶 不 久 , 客 戶 見 他 工 具 不 稱 , 便 以 公 司 閒 著 不 用 之 器 相 送 。 後 來 父 親
買 了 一 枚 Rolleiflex 回 贈 。 父 親 倒 也 是 一 個 實 際 之 人 , 他 退 休 後 一 念 把 此 物 賣 掉 , 獃 在 家 中
落 得 一 個 不 輕 鬆 。 我 說 你 就 給 了 我 吧 , 於 是 這 具 Linhof 便 屬 我 所 有 , 連 同 七 管 鏡 。 我 與 父
親 工 作 方 向 不 同 , 也 起 點 於 不 同 年 代 , 所 用 大 中 小 片 幅 照 相 機 相 異 。 大 片 幅 的 工 作 , 其 實
我 已 有 三 台 Sinar, 並 且 可 以 互 相 組 合 使 用 。 這 具 Linhof 在 我 的 工 作 上 只 使 用 過 一 回 , 有 次
要 拍 攝 一 份 公 司 形 象 冊 子 , 包 括 公 司 各 部 落 , 開 會 及 運 作 。 黑 白 照 片 要 活 像 順 手 拈 來 , 又
要 兼 具 非 常 細 緻 描 寫 的 方 式 。 我 用 了 隨 機 而 來 的 那 管 Apo-Lanthar, 所 有 照 片 光 圈 盡 開 。 隨
機 而 來 的 七 管 鏡 物 , 其 中 兩 枚 份 屬 名 品 。 這 是 物 器 知 識 不 得 全 面 的 我 後 來 才 所 獲 悉 。Apo-
Lanthar 鏡 片 以 放 射 性 物 料 玻 璃 所 製 。 我 們 離 港 前 的 幾 年 居 坪 洲 , 也 用 此 機 拍 過 一 點 非 工 作
使 用 的 照 片 , 但 是 不 多 , 那 轉 接 的 十 年 間 要 忙 的 事 盡 是 。 話 雖 如 此 , 我 的 一 些 略 較 人 知 的
照 片 其 實 有 些 底 本 材 料 是 以 此 具 Linhof 所 拍 , 只 是 不 為 人 們 所 察 而 已 。

Linhof Super Technika
IV, 4x5
From the early 60s to 90s, this might be the camera my father worked with most. I came back to live
in Hong Kong in 1962, just as he started to set up his photography business. One evening, I saw him
fiddling with this camera like a boy in front of a box of candy toys. I knew afterwards; that the camera
was given to him as a gift by his client, who noticed the inadequacy in his equipment. The client,
who owned a large printing company, was a supportive friend. The camera was originally used by the
company’s staffs to take landscape photo-stocks for calendars, but seldom in use anymore. Father
bought his client friend a Rolleiflex in return.
My father is a practical man. After he retired, he thought about selling off the Linhof, for the sake of
cleaning up the home space. I thought, he wasn’t ready to devote an area for his long and compact
memory trail. I said why don’t you give it to me. And there you go - this Linhof, with all its seven
lenses, belongs to me now.
My profession’s direction differs from my father’s, even though we were on the same boat - I mean
photography. And also, we started at different points of time, despite using cameras from small to
large formats, our equipments were not the same. I used SINAR for studio work. Actually, I already
owned three sets of SINAR, and all can be disassembled and recombined to perform under a modular
system. I used the Linhof once on assignment for a company’s brochure. That assignment needed
black and white photographs taken with ultimate details, but the style had to look like hand-held
candid shots. I used Apo-Lanthar, a very compact lens that came with the Linhof, with aperture fullopened.
As my knowledge of lenses grew, I learnt that Apo-Lanthar was a very famous lens. It was
manufactured with radioactive glass elements. Among the seven lenses that came with my father’s
camera, two are big shots.
We were in Peng Chau for a couple of years before leaving Hong Kong. On the island, I photographed
with Linhof for some personal work, though not much. Those transitional ten years were busy and
crazy. As a matter of fact, some of my better-known photographs were embedded with materials taken
with the Linhof, only that they are not mentioned and scarcely detectable. (trans. LKS and Holly)

MINOLTA TC-1, 35mm
This MINOLTA TC-1 was a gift from Araki. With his signature on the back: “Holly, ARAKiss”.
In 1997, I was invited by New Cosmo of Photography to be the guest judge. New Cosmo of
Photography is a cultural project established in 1992. The Awards are organized twice a year. Fumio
Nanjo, Nobuyoshi Araki and Kotaro Iizawa in Japan were the three stable judges. For every round,
a guest judge was invited to join the team, to form a four-person jury panel. I was the guest judge for
the first-half of 1997, the second-half was Daido Moriyama. Other guest judges invited in the past
years included Robert Frank (1994), Sarah Moon (1999), Tadanori Yokoo 橫 尾 忠 則 (2000), Kyoichi
Tsuzuki 都 築 響 一 (2001), Martin Parr (2003), Miwa Yanagi (2004) and William Eggleston (2005). The
last time I visited Tokyo, Iizawa told me that there was a change in the judging system in New Cosmo
of Photography since 2010. The panel is now formed by members from the new generation.
I began my extensive research on Japanese photography in the Eighties and started to pay particular
attention to Araki’s work after I saw his work published in 寫 真 時 代 . The fact is, apart from the
controversial photography which Araki is noted for, he photographed other subjects as well. Once
I came across some early photographs he did for drug advertisements, and more recently I saw his
photographs of Haruki Murakami in an assignment for The New York Times Magazine a few years
ago. On this judging occasion, I had a chance to know Araki in person. Discussing Araki with Araki,
perhaps a bit of a surprise to him it came from a non-Japanese reader, who would put the effort into
combing through the layers of his work. Araki made his fame in Europe first, before he was well
recognized internationally. After judging, the judging team and the committee members gathered in a
room with a very long table. Holly was travelling with me and we sat right across Araki. I took out my
camera and took a picture of him. He asked to look at my camera, which was a CONTAX Tvs. Araki
took a picture of me with my camera, then took out his camera, a MINOLTA TC-1 from the carrying
bag. He took a photograph of me, and a few more snaps in our direction. Moments later, he said
to Holly he would like to give us the camera in his hand as a gift. It was so sudden that we did not
give him a courteous reply. We saw him emptying the roll film out of the camera and putting it into
his carrying bag. I must admit, besides the equipment I used for studio assignments, I am not that
familiar with brands and models of candid cameras. It was only later that I learnt the MINOLTA TC-1

Tomio came to our gallery very
often. One day, I asked him
if he was interest in drawing
my cameras. Holly and I have
been working as photographers
for decades, and we have
accumulated quite a horde of
cameras in different formats.
That was the beginning of
Tomio’s camera drawing
project. We used a small corner
of the gallery to display his
camera drawings, and named it
“Tomio Nitto Camerashop”. In
the course of time he has drawn
over fifty cameras, some based
on mine, and others, cameras
from our friends. These are
available as prints, and for fun,
as buttons.

Kodak folding bed
4.25x6.5 on 620 rollfilm

Tomio Nitto 日 塔 富 夫 is an award-winning graphic
artist who has been living in Toronto for over fifty years.
A successful illustrator before the turn of the century, he
is represented by the prestigious graphic design studio
REACTOR, working for major magazines and commercial
clients in Canada and the United States.
Tomio Nitto lives a minimal, easy peasy life. He doesn’t
own a tv, a cell phone, a computer, nor a car. He loves to
walk and bike. In his spare time, Tomio paints, draws and
sketches from nature. In fact his art is largely inspired by
nature’s relationship with the human race. His graphic fable
“The Red Rock”, which delivers a strong environmental
message, was published in 2006. The Camera drawing
project began in 2010, resulting in an exhibition at INDEXG
in 2013. His most recent project and exhibition “Diary of
Wonders” was based on discarded materials collected from
the shorelines of Leslie Spit. Through fine treatment and
painting he has injected each piece of scrap a new life,
making them into meticulous and unique pieces of objects.
Diary of Wonders - an exhibition of these small works were
shown at 50 Gladstone Saloon (formerly Gallery 50) in
2021.
Tomio Nitto drawing a Leica M (2010)

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