"Bauhinia in front of Hong Kong Harbour, circa 1997" - the photograph comes from Holly Lee's Hollian Thesaurus series which was produced in the mid 90's, before the Handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
Bauhinia is grown in the sub-tropical climate and is the city flower of Hong Kong. There is certain sentiment towards the destiny of Bauhinia (as the city flower) and Hong Kong (as the city) after the British's rule. The portrait of the flower is set against the modern Hong Kong harbour to commemorate this historical significant event.
The Hollian Thesaurus series has been exhibited in different cities including Japan, Hong Kong, New York and Austria. It is in the permanent collection of the Hong Kong Heritage museum. A native of Hong Kong, Holly LEE has worked as a professional photographer since the 1980s. She was awarded an Asian Cultural Council fellowship in 1994 and was the recipient of the Grand Award and two Gold Awards from the Hong Kong Institute of Professional Photographers (1995) and Best of Multimedia in the Pan Pacific Digital Artistry Competition (1996). She lives and works in Toronto since 1997.
