It has taken nearly half a century for Ngan Chun-tung to have his first solo exhibition.
And in The Way We Were, running at the new OP fotogallery until April 18, the veteran photographer has entered the solo arena with 20 extraordinary black and white photos featuring daily life in Hong Kong during the 1950s and 60s.
Sitting in the gallery, drinking Tsing Tao beer from a champagne glass, Ngan cheerfully recollected how he became involved in his lifelong profession, intermittently referring to the photos in his private album to illustrate the point he was making.
Born in Hainan Island in China, he knew nothing about photography when he came to Hong Kong at the age of 19.
He began working as an office junior at a pharmacy. But a visit to the Seventh Hong Kong Salon Photography Exhibition in 1951 proved to be a turning point in Ngan's life, triggering his life-long passion for photography.
The ambition to have his pictures published in a newspaper prompted him to start teaching himself the art of photography - in spite of unfavourable financial circumstances.