@surrealhk

Tommy Fung’s Instagram project @surrealhk uses photorealistic manipulation to respond directly to the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. Born in Hong Kong and raised in Venezuela, Fung returned to the city in 2016 and began creating digitally altered photographs that merge daily life with surreal, often absurd scenarios. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fung creates satirical, cinematic images as commentary on how the virus shaped public life in Hong Kong.

In an image posted on January 28, 2020, Fung edits a photograph of the Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island, one of Hong Kong’s major religious landmarks, to show the statue wearing a blue surgical mask. The caption, “Wear a mask!” in both English and Chinese, expresses a direct public health message. By putting a mask on a revered figure, Fung underscores the unease and urgency that had already begun to spread through Hong Kong in the pandemic’s early days.

A second image posted on 12 March 2020 shows a subway passenger on the Hong Kong MTR with a grotesque alien parasite clinging to his face, which is a visual allusion to the Alien film franchise’s “facehugger”. The caption reads, “New type of mask or new type of infection?” This image reflects the fear and uncertainty around how COVID-19 spreads. Here, Fung channels sci-fi aesthetics to express how the pandemic blurred boundaries between safety and paranoia, survival and absurdity.

A third piece from 2 September 2020 situates the pandemic within the cultural framework of the Hungry Ghost Festival. It shows a ghostly figure in traditional Chinese opera dress, mouth wide open as a swab is inserted for a COVID test. The caption jokes, “Do your Covid test before leaving the human world,” which refers to the Hong Kong government’s universal community testing programme started from late August 2020, and the Hungry Ghost Festival. The theatrical ghost, traditionally believed to roam the earth during this lunar festival, becomes an unlikely yet fitting subject for COVID bureaucracy and the sometimes performative public health measures.

Fung’s COVID works exemplify an alternative reality, using surreal vision to draw attention to real, social, political, and emotional undercurrents. He draws on well-known symbols in Hong Kong, such as landmarks, public transportation, and cultural festivals. His style is extremely photorealistic, as each work is a combination of his own photographs with digital elements edited in Photoshop, designed to appear visually seamless. This precision and realism also create a sense of familiarity disrupted by something uncanny, reflecting the challenges, confusion, and absurdities of living through the pandemic in Hong Kong.