AN INTERVIEW WITH DERRY AINSWORTH

Derry Ainsworth won 1st Prize in our recent Cities competition with a remarkable image of a container shipped framed in the ‘dragon’s gate’ of a Hong Kong sky scraper. It’s an image is emblematic of his broader approach – finding moments of beauty amongst the chaos and scale of this vibrant city he’s called home since 2014.

Keen to learn more about the shot, how Derry ended up in Hong Kong, and how he continues to find inspiration in the city, we put some questions to him…

Derry, congratulations on winning our Cities competition! Please introduce yourself in a few words…

Hey! My name is Derry, I’m a British photographer who’s been based in Hong Kong since 2014. I like capturing buildings, places, people and moments.

It’s a remarkable winning image that takes a little while to process. Can you tell us the circumstances behind it? Was it a shot – with the container ship framed through the ‘dragon gate’ – that you knew you wanted from the outset, or did it come about more spontaneously?

Thank you! After living in Hong Kong for a while I started to notice more or these dragon gate buildings, and I had this idea it would be cool to try and frame a subject through the gap of one. I thought about this particular building in Pok Fu Lam, and I knew there was a busy shipping channel right in front of it. So one day I got a taxi back to this spot and captured the aerial perspective looking through the building to where the ships go past. I had to use the drone to scout for any potential ships coming through and when there was one, I had to wait for a while and line up the gap in the building with a nice perspective of the ship. I also shot this later in the afternoon to add some glowing light from the setting sun. It’s one of my favourite images I’ve ever shot and I’m very grateful for it to get recognised and shared with everyone through Life Framer.

I understand that you’re an ex-architect, and have been in Hong Kong for over a decade. It must be a city from which you can draw constant inspiration from the architecture, and particularly the interplay of architecture, topography and nature. What drew you to the city and what keeps you there?

I first came to Hong Kong in 2014, and I was initially drawn by images I saw online of the place – with neon lights, crazy urban density and interesting architecture. It was the polar opposite of my small hometown Bournemouth in the UK. The mix of city and nature makes it an awesome place to live and photograph, with all the work opportunity of a city mixed with the rewards of living in a place with amazing nature.

You’ve captured the city in a recently sold-out book – Highs and Lows. How was the process of creating the book? What were the aspects you enjoyed the most, and conversely that you found most challenging?

I had been thinking about creating a book for a long time, but I just kept putting it off or being too busy with my commercial work. In 2025 I set it as one of my new year’s resolutions to get the book done. I think one of the hardest parts was selecting the images for the book, as I have over 11 years of photos on my hard drives. When thinking about the concept, I tried to think of just a way to summarise what I enjoy shooting the most and that is urban cityscapes from above, and street photography of daily life – highs & lows. It really helped that I had done some exhibitions in the past and was able to see which images had the best public reaction. This helped me curate my work and lay it out into a book. As photographers we are constantly posting online, so to sit down and create a physical book with these images was really rewarding. It was also a great way to slow down and reflect on my journey so far.

Having shot so extensively in the city, how do you keep finding new inspiration, subject, perspectives…?

I’m a bit obsessed, I am constantly thinking about how things could look as photographs, even when I’m not with my camera. I think the only thing that inspires me is a place itself, I’m always trying to think about how my images capture ‘a sense of place’. So I really enjoy the process of just walking around, paying attention to my surroundings and thinking about different ways I can react to my environment by how I take my photos.

I think over time I have grown to enjoy the process of just going out for a walk and shooting because I find it really meditative, and I tend to forget about everything else when I’m out shooting. In Hong Kong we are blessed with this never-ending chaos of a very populated city with a lot going on, so there’s always interesting subject matter around if you pay attention. I think I also have this inner competitive side that makes me want to always find my own unique perspective on places, I always challenge myself to keep shooting better.

Could you tell us the story behind one of your favorite images to date?

I really like one of my images where a fisherman is yanking a fish out of the harbour [above]. I was just in the right place at the right time to capture this and I think it’s just a funny, human moment to capture with this grand backdrop of the HK skyline in the background.

And who or what inspires you, outside of the genre of photography?

I think primarily I get my inspiration from places themselves and the feeling of exploration. I get also get really inspired by music, I feel like my photography is often inspired by whatever is in my playlist. When I listen to music I imagine certain scenes, certain moods of photographs that would suit what I’m listening to. I try not to take inspiration from other shooters as I believe photography should be about your own personal journey of what interests you. I appreciate other people’s work but I’m not inspired by it.

What’s the best piece of advice you’d pass on to your younger self if you could?

Have a bit more in savings before taking those risks! If I was to start my photography journey again I would say “stay hungry, stay curious and keep exploring.”

And finally, what’s next? What will you be working on in 2026?

More photos of Hong Kong, more travel, another book and hopefully a new solo exhibition!