Transforming the Everyday: Ho Chi Hing Simon’s Award-Winning Urban Photography

In the bustling fabric of city life, moments of unexpected beauty often flicker by unnoticed. For Hong Kong–based photographer Ho Chi Hing Simon, one such fleeting moment became the foundation of The Escalator—a striking architectural and urban photography work that earned the Platinum Award in the Exterior category at the Best Photography Awards UK 2025 Autumn Season. With a compact Fujifilm X10 that he has carried almost daily for over a decade, Simon transforms everyday surroundings into scenes of visual intrigue and contemplation. His instinct for observation, combined with the spontaneity of the moment, forms the quiet power behind this award-winning image.

Q: Could you share the background and setting of this award-winning photo?

Simon: “This is a photo that I took earlier this year near the place where I live. I have a compact camera with me almost everyday for the past decade. That day afternoon as usual I just walked past the area after shopping, a beam of sunlight had shone through high rise buildings across the street right on the side of this machine, immediately this view dawned on me and I realised that this would be an opportunity to make a visual record of it.

Camera : Fujifilm X10 Manual Mode ISO 200 Aperture : f/13 Shutter Speed : 1/1250

SOOC No post-editing or processing.”

Q: Is there a particular detail in this photo that you especially love?

Simon: “An ordinary man-made structure glittering like a flash of lighting in the sky.”

Q3: Did you have any specific inspiration or artistic concept in mind during the creation?

Simon: “Through photography to make everyday encountered objects into a serendipity, or something that look different, intriguing.”

Q4: What do you hope viewers will feel or reflect upon when they see this photo?

Simon: “Beauty and puzzles are always nearby, no matter how mundane it is. A camera is almost like the extension of someone’s eyes, sometime it reflects the reality, other time it changes it, this indeterminacy, fortuitousness is interesting, so is our lives.”

A Reflection on Urban Serendipity

The Escalator is more than a study of architecture—it is a reminder that photography is an act of awareness. In Simon’s hands, a simple mechanical structure becomes a luminous visual metaphor, shimmering like a stroke of lightning against the cityscape. His sensitivity to chance, light, and quiet human presence transforms an everyday encounter into a moment of discovery.

Simon’s work invites viewers to consider how the ordinary can become extraordinary when seen through eyes that seek meaning and poetry. His approach—rooted in spontaneity, observation, and respect for the unaltered image—stands as a testament to the enduring power of photography in an increasingly mediated world.