Aug 13, 2020
Aug 13, 2020

Untitled (View on the Praya, looking east, Hong Kong)

Untitled (View on the Praya, looking east, Hong Kong)

1866–73

William Pryor Floyd

(British, 1834–c. 1900)

Albumen print

Image: 19.2 x 26.9 cm (7 9/16 x 10 9/16 in.); Paper: 19.2 x 26.9 cm (7 9/16 x 10 9/16 in.); Mounted: 25.5 x 26.9 cm (10 1/16 x 10 9/16 in.)

Sundry Art - Photography Fund 2020.233

Location

Did you know?

Praya, a term used in colonial Hong Kong for the road by the waterfront, came from the Portuguese word praia, which means "beach."

Description

Floyd’s views of Hong Kong possess a clarity of organization and elegance lacking in most of his competitors’ photographs. The row of white, Western-style commercial buildings divides the composition horizontally into thirds. In the foreground are water and a single Chinese boat that leads the eye to the closest building. The crisp cubic forms of the buildings stand out against the uniformly dark hillside that serves as their backdrop.

See also
Department: 
Photography
Type of artwork: 
Photograph
Medium: 
Albumen print

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