The book; titled ‘Ping Pong’, bundles a collection of candid black-and-white street photographs in diptychs, directing the gaze of the viewer from left to right and back to left, as in a ping pong match. Majority of these moments are captured in Hong Kong but also include shots from his travels to the Philippines, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Spain and Portugal. His work speaks of fun and joy and flipping through his book, one can’t help but smile comparing his quirky juxtapositions.

“I dream of taking photos in which humour, geometry and that one split moment combine into a perfect composition, and I always have my camera with me, because I believe that the best photo is the one I will be making today.” — Miguel Marina

Personal Statement

It all started with that Werlissa Color 2000 that my mother kept in a draw and that my brothers and I were not allowed to touch. We had such a bad track record of destroying everything in our hands that our mother knew what could happen to her beloved camera. I, however, ignored that rule and it was there that I learned how to become invisible, indispensable in my photography. I used to sneak into her bedroom to grab the camera and to look down the lens at my brothers whilst they were being mischievous. I regret not being able to preserve the photos that I took with my mind without film.Ever since I was little I loved to be on the street; walking, researching, observing, listening and smelling. I have always seen the street as a stage and us, the passersby, as the actors on that stage.It was my a childhood friend, who got me into photography in the late nineties. He always carried an old Russian analogue camera and it was he who taught me that the camera is not important but the eye and how to see things differentlyFor work reasons, it wasn’t until a few years after arriving in Hong Kong that I started to develop my vision. In 2013 I married my wife and we went to Phillipines and carried a camera, it was my first time taking street photos and portraits, my wife wanted us to be in the photo but what got my attention was capturing the life there (first photo I took in my honey moon is the first photo in Ping Pong), Back to Hong Kong was when a Swiss friend, introduced me to street photography. That kind of candid photography that throws preparation out of the window and shows the purity of life’s moments through image. I was addicted.I got my first camera and started to capture everything that I could glean, see, hear and smell in the streets of Hong Kong. I photographed moments and I wanted to make them beautiful. I started to photograph daily life, to give my opinion through images, to tell stories in the most universal language, photography. Many years have passed since then and what started as a game has become my work and passion. Not a day goes by that I don’t dream of photographing a moment full of contrasts and stories that would form the perfect composition.

「我目標是拍攝幽默、幾何和完美構圖的照片，並且是在那一瞬間拍攝。我總是隨身帶著相機，因為你永遠不知道......可能今天我會拍出生涯中最好的作品。」— Miguel Marina

由 Miguel Marina 所創作，一本既風趣又幽默的攝影集：《乒．乓》，以一系列坦率而直接的黑白街拍作品；將觀眾的目光從左到右，再從右回到左來回引導，彷如一場乒乓球比賽。書中大部分作品都是 Marina 於香港拍攝，但同時亦包括他到訪菲律賓、韓國、日本、泰國、越南、西班牙和葡萄牙等地旅遊時捕捉的畫面。Marina 的作品闡述出日常的樂趣和喜悅，當你翻閱著這本攝影集時，他那獨特而另類的幽默感會令你不禁回心微笑。