Dutch photographer Marcel Heijnen presents a tail-wagging selection of images of Hong Kong’s garage dogs – loyal canines guarding the city’s oily motor repair shops.
Following his photo series “Market Cats,” Heijnen takes a ruffer look at the unapologetically masculine world of car parts, engine grease, and tough love, embodying the intimate human-canine bond.
“I’m generally interested in Hong Kong’s raw and seemingly chaotic aspects and find this hugely photogenic,” Heijnen told HKFP.
“After doing series and books on this city’s shop cats and market cats, I turned my attention to the many dogs living in car workshops as this provided an extension and counterbalance to the cat photos I started to become known for. This inspired me to explore different locations of the territory while staying true to the ‘Hong Kong photos through the means of a functional animal’ narrative.” he said.
On the contrast between his “Market Cat” photo series, Heijnen said: “[T]here is also a parallel – like the cats, these dogs are functional animals, rather than pets. While the cats protect the goods in the stores against mice, the dogs guard the car workshops against thieves.”
He added: “Although not as cute and calm as the cats, the hounds gave me an excellent opportunity to expand the narrative of Hong Kong’s ‘beautiful organic chaos’ with an animal as a common element.”
“Garage Dogs” launches on November 29 at Goods of Desire (G.O.D) PMQ. More information on the event can be found here.
Visit Heijnen’s website and Instagram for more images.
