The Best Hong Kong Photography Books (2026): An Honest Shelf

A good photography book is the second-best way to keep Hong Kong close (we're biased about the best way). But the "Hong Kong photo book" market is a mix of masterpieces, tourist filler and out-of-print unicorns — so here's an honest shelf: what's genuinely worth owning, where to actually get it, and what it costs. As with our gift guide, we only recommend things we'd put on our own shelves — including books we don't sell and earn nothing from.

1. Fan Ho's monographs — the essential ones

Start here if you start anywhere. Fan Ho's books — Hong Kong Yesterday and his other collected monographs — gather the 1950s–60s street photography that made him the city's great master of light. Editions come and go and older printings command collector prices, so buy through his official estate or a reputable photography bookseller, and be wary of cheap reprints. (We wrote more about his work and how to get that aesthetic on your wall here.)

2. Sunset Survivors — the disappearing trades

Lindsay Varty's Sunset Survivors documents the city's last traditional tradespeople — letter writers, bird cage makers, dai pai dong cooks — in photographs and interviews. The same disappearing Hong Kong our photographers chase at street level, held between covers. HK$288 at The Lion Rock Press.

3. Old Hong Kong: The Way We Were 2 — the time machine

Archival photographs of the Hong Kong your parents (or grandparents) knew — rooftop schools, rickshaws at the Star Ferry, the harbour before reclamation. The Way We Were 2 is the one that gets left open on coffee tables. HK$499.

4. Hong Kong Ferry Trails — the one for explorers

Hong Kong Ferry Trails — a photographic guide to the city and its islands by sea. For the person whose Hong Kong was Lamma weekends and outlying-island hikes. HK$280.

And when the book isn't enough

Books live on shelves; the city deserves a wall. The same documentary instinct in these books — the trades, the light, the density — is what our 18 Hong Kong street photographers shoot today, printed in numbered editions of 50 with certificates of authenticity and shipped worldwide. Start with the most-loved prints or browse the full archive.

We have no affiliation with The Lion Rock Press — they just stock good books. Prices checked at time of writing.