Artist Statement

“Two years ago, I set off on a photographic journey along the Texas Gulf coast, exploring the relationship between the sea and those who choose to live by it. It is one of the fastest corroding coastlines, allegedly caused by the river diversions carried out by the oil refineries.

 “After 2 weeks, I cut the trip short. In the 16 days that I was shooting, I was stopped on 11 different occasions by the authorities, all citing national security and terrorism threat as the reason I had to pack up and move on.

“Two years later, I decided to retrace my trip, on Google Streetview. The same pictures that I was questioned about taking are now available to millions online.

“It is not my intention to question the security measures taken by the US government nor am I arguing whether Google is breaching our privacy. I am merely putting the pictures together to raise these questions.”

Artist Bio

Kurt Tong (b. Hong Kong, 1977) was originally trained as a health visitor and co-founded a charitable home for disabled children in India in 1999.

Tong became a full-time photographer in 2003 and was the winner of the Luis Valtuena Award with his first project on disabled children in India. His more recent works draw on his Chinese heritage and familial relationships for inspiration; ‘People’s Park’, which explores the now deserted Communist era public squares, was chosen as the winner of Photography.Book.Now competition, the Hey, Hot Shot! competition and the prestigious Jerwood Photography Award.  ‘In Case it Rains in Heaven’, exploring Chinese funeral offerings, has been exhibited around the world and will be published by Kehrer Verlag in 2011.

Tong’s photographs have been widely published and exhibited, including through solo shows at Photofusion and Compton Verney.

He is represented by Jen Bekman Gallery in New York.

For further information on Kurt Tong please see www.kurttong.co.uk