Been a while since my last post, been working and under the weather. From now on the publishing date will be adjusted to the moment I make it public, instead of the date of event.
Been around this area for few times recently but I never knew this place until this gallery hosted Muse Chan's exhibition, celebrating his 20 years of creativity.
Next to Subway and opposite to Oi! in Electric Road, this branch is a three-minute walk from Fortress Hill MTR Exit A.
Muse Chan is a veteran local photographer active in wedding/portrait photography for 2 decades, prior he was a photo editor for media (news maybe). He also offers classes so quite some of his students attended, over 100 visited on the first day I'm told. Seeing him recording content for his blog on the opening day, I decided to visit another time.
When the gallery isn't hosting any exhibitions, it is a cafe and an art class venue.
The gallery isn't big, it's compactness is suitable for artists who don't intend to showcase a vast amount of work. There is a cafe inside, purchasing a cup there is the exhibition entrance fee. It costed $35 for a normal-sized decent cup of coffee (this was the discounted price for entering the exhibition I'm told). On the day I visited these were available.
I've seen some of the works before, as these were displayed elegantly in one side of his studio. Besides a chandelier emitting dim warm light, there were also a guitar and an electronic piano there.
Out of some photography classes I've taken, I learnt the most from him. He is a serious teacher, no-nonsense approach. Classical painting is one source of his inspiration when learning photography, claiming such artwork can be passed on for centuries meaning that is a standard you can learn (something like that I vaguely remember in one class). Indeed, the early era of photography modelled after the art of painting. The style of expression generally emulated painting. (to quote the master Ho Fan) You can see that in Muse's works there. I'd describe his work and classes are mostly for creative photography. Besides mastering the basic, the way he handles his photos is something you either like or dislike, but you can't question his ability. In his portraiture-based classes, you learn to set up the lighting, how to take photos, how to retouch etc, sometimes you can travel abroad with a model and learn the shooting with him.
He has a YouTube channel, which is a great source of his teaching. This is his video on his exhibition, from 15 to 22 February 2026 at Artiste Studio, Fortress Hill.
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