Originally from Minneapolis, Michael Kistler began his photographic journey at the age of 18 while travelling through Europe with a compact Ricoh film camera. What started as a way of navigating unfamiliar surroundings soon became a lifelong pursuit. After settling in Tokyo, he spent a decade exploring and refining his distinctive, often abstract approach to photography — using motion and blur to convey the rhythm and energy of city life. In 2014, Kistler relocated with his family to Hong Kong, where he continued to pursue his passion for street photography. After two years living in Singapore, he has since returned to Hong Kong, where he is once again based.

Kistler’s talent as a street photographer lies in his ability to capture the essence of urban life — the fleeting gestures, reflections, and layers that define the modern city. His images balance abstraction and realism, achieved through long exposures, camera movement, and in-camera double exposures, resulting in photographs that are both blurred and sharp, alive with motion yet grounded in stillness.

More than visually striking, his photographs tell stories. Each frame offers a glimpse into the lives that animate the city’s streets, transforming ordinary moments into something lyrical and universal. Through this interplay of movement and quiet observation, Kistler has developed a unique visual language, poetic yet gritty, intimate yet expansive.

Recognised as one of Hong Kong’s leading street photographers, Kistler has exhibited widely in Hong Kong and internationally, including in New York, Minneapolis, London, Dublin, and Porto. Alongside his photographic practice, he regularly leads workshops and mentoring sessions, sharing his experience and passion with emerging photographers around the world.

生於明尼阿波利斯的Kistler，十八歲初訪歐洲，透過用一部Ricoh菲林相機拍攝，助他應對新環境。多年的周遊列國後，他決定於東京定居，並在當地成家立室。身處日本的十年間，他逐漸建立起自己的抽象主義風格。二零一四年，他與家人移居香港，在這裏延續他對攝影的熱誠。

除了是次由Blue Lotus Gallery舉辦的個人展覽外，Kistler的作品曾多次於香港、東京、紐約、阿斯托里亞、明尼阿波利斯、倫敦、都柏林和波爾圖廣泛展出。他亦經常在香港和外地舉辦街頭攝影工作坊，分享拍攝心得。

About BLINK852, a solo exhibition at Blue Lotus Gallery (November 2020)

In every city, countless moments of quiet beauty unfold and disappear in the blink of an eye. Street photography has the ability to catch these fleeting instants — the drama of daily life playing out amid the intricate patterns of the urban landscape.

With over half of humanity now living in cities and the accessibility of smartphone cameras ever increasing, street photography has become one of the most popular photographic genres. Yet true mastery within it remains rare. A street photographer must be both observer and hunter, patiently anticipating the ephemeral and transforming it into something lasting.

While the genre has often been defined by black-and-white masters such as Cartier-Bresson, Winogrand, Moriyama, and Fan Ho, Michael Kistler chooses to render Hong Kong in colour. The city’s intense saturation — its neon lights, racing traffic, and cascading advertisements — creates an endless play of motion and reflection. Kistler’s images weave together street art, architecture, and the blurred movement of trams, taxis, and people to reveal a visual rhythm that feels both chaotic and choreographed.

Reflections and layering are central to his vision. When not naturally present on the street, he creates them through in-camera double exposures — never with Photoshop — to mirror the kaleidoscopic experience of navigating Hong Kong’s streets, surrounded by shifting light, sound, and speed.

BLINK852 embodies a spirit of experimentation and immediacy — an echo of Kistler’s DIY, punk-inflected philosophy of learning by doing. Often seen skating through the city with his camera, he encourages his students to slow down and notice the small details that might otherwise go unseen.

In celebrating the beauty of everyday moments, Kistler’s vibrant, layered photographs offer a fresh perspective on Hong Kong and on street photography itself: a reminder to look closer and find poetry in the pulse of the city.

繁華鬧市中，埋藏著無數毫不起眼卻意外地美麗的瞬間，它們僅存於眨眼一殺那……隨之永遠消失。街頭攝影正正能將這些一瞬即逝的時刻收納起來，記錄大都市的複雜網絡下，日常間最精彩的每分每秒。超過一半的世界人口在市區成長和生活，加上隨著手機攝影功能的迅速普及化，難怪街頭攝影乃當今最受歡迎的攝影類型之一。但是，要在街頭攝影超群出眾絕非易事。

街頭攝影師既是觀察者又是獵人，他們總抱著耐性，鍥而不捨地追索飛逝的畫面。他們需花上一輩子的時間，建立具連貫性的作品，以獨特的個人風格及視野突圍而出。

一直以來，街頭攝影與黑白照有著密不可分的關係，Cartier-Bresson、Winogrand、Moriyama和何藩的作品便是例子，但Michael Kistler更鐘情於捕捉色彩斑斕的香港。一座人口密度甚高的城市，滿佈令人眼花撩亂的燈光，配上鮮豔奪目的廣告牌和交通，將五光十色投向城市人身上。最令Kistler著迷的主題包括壁畫，具地標性的巴士、的士、電車的動態，以及來回又折返的人群。

除了光譜造成的混亂，香港也以反光的高樓大廈而聞名，Kistler擅長從玻璃和水坑中找出它們的映照。層次感是Kistler作品中不可或缺的一角，即使在眼前的大街上看不見，他也會透過相機的雙重曝光功能呈現此效果。萬花筒般的景像如同將我們置身於大都市中，其聲響、動感和光影反照皆衝擊著我們的感官。值得一提的是，Kistler從不用Photoshop等軟件作大型的後期編輯，一切皆在相機內操作，再受輕微的後期調整。

BLINK 852 特意帶出無視規矩的朋克文化態度，希望大家能在攝影的過程中毫不造作、放膽探索。邊做邊學是Kistler經常與學生分享的宗旨，你或可能遇過他掛上相機、踏著滑板帶領他們在街上遊走的情景。這就是觀察「一切小事」的練習。