It’s 8pm on a steamy Sunday in May and Hong Kong photographer Kasper Forest is in his happy place: exploring the back alleys of Kowloon.

With light stick in one hand, trusted Rollei camera dangling from his neck, Forest is looking for the latest addition to “Conflict Hong Kong”, a photography series he started in 2016, and plans to keep shooting until 2026.

“Ten years sounds like a long time but I wanted to show that I was committed,” says the 36-year-old, who adopted the pseudonym Forest because, he says, his family name, Lam, written in Chinese characters, looks like two trees.

So far he’s amassed more than 600 black-and-white photos, mostly portraits. Some are random street-style shots, others have been more arranged. All, however, invite the viewer to question their own prejudices, just like Forest was forced to do so years earlier while holidaying in Thailand.

“One night in Bangkok I walked away from a conversation after discovering the woman was transgender,” he says. He later reflected on his actions, and “I felt ashamed for walking away, for judging.”