Chung King-lam

HK Magazine: How did you come to own a camera shop?
Chung King-lam: It was my father‘s shop. In the 70s there were lots of photo supply stores in Central, especially on Stanley Street, which we still call “Camera Street.” Our family is from Xinhui, in Guangdong, and most of the big camera shops in Central were owned by immigrants. If you are my age, you will probably have heard of camera shops like “Gwong Dai” [廣大] and “Dai Chong” [大中]. They are closed now, but used to be run by my family, the Chungs. My father and uncles started the business, and I turned into a second generation owner. Ever since I was 10 years old, I came here to help every day after school. Now I’m older than 50, so I have witnessed the shop’s progress for almost half a century.

HK: How have digital cameras affected your industry?
CKL: We used to sell wholesale—not only cameras, but also the equipment and accessories. We developed film too, though of course it was black and white back in the day. During the old days people would have their family portraits taken every Chinese New Year, and we would wholesale the developing chemicals to those studios. After things went digital, film was no longer needed—now you just need a memory card. Business has been falling in the past decade. Before we would develop more than 100 film rolls a day during the holidays. Now 20 would be considered a lot.

HK: Have you ever thought about switching careers?
CKL: When I was still in primary school I was already here helping. If you ask me to change jobs now, what can I do? I know nothing besides cameras. I’ve got a wife and children, and my daughter is still in school. Also, what about my staff?

HK: How do you stay in business, then?
CKL: We have survived for many years. We had our golden age. Our expenditure and revenue is hardly balanced now—we are losing money every month, but we imported a huge amount of film and equipment in the old days and now just live on selling that. Old shops keep shutting down: before there were more than 10 shops on Stanley Street. Just today, I heard that another older one [Kinefoto Limited] is shutting down. People think shops in Central can always make big money, but we don’t. Do you know how much the rent is in Central? It’s just gone up another 30 percent in the past year.

HK: Why would someone come to you, instead of shopping online?
CKL: Our shop has survived ‘til now, but it’s because we are professional. In the old days you had to have specific skills and knowledge to sell a camera. Now in this digital world, it’s more self-explanatory.  But if you want something special, you still have to come to our shop. For example, if you’re looking for a tripod, we have 40 different kinds.

HK: What’s one of the biggest changes you’ve noticed?
CKL: Many years ago, old men would come here and develop films. But nowadays, it’s the old people coming in to buy digital cameras while the young people are coming in and looking for film. See, the world is changing.