In 1962, Frank Horvat was commissioned by the German magazine Revue to team up with writer Dieter Lattmann to create a number of features on major cities around the world. The duo arrived late that year for a stay in Hong Kong, which had been seeing a massive influx of new immigrants from China over a decade.

Horvat was fascinated to discover a dense city laid out vertically, packed with people, dwellings, objects, and symbols, where empty space was unimaginable. It perfectly suited the photographer’s style because he liked to compose his images in black and white, filling the frame with his subjects. As a large part of the commissioned work was not included in the published article, most of the images appearing in this exhibition have never been seen before. This is also the first time the Hong Kong Dream exhibition of Frank Horvat is shown in Asia.