Simon Wan, the Hong Kong photographer who walked from Melbourne to Geelong

If you happened to be travelling to Melbourne at the weekend, you may have spotted Simon Wan trekking along the highway with camera in hand.

Hong Kong photographer Simon Wan, pictured at Grammar Lagoon, walked from Melbourne to Geelong, photographing things along the way for an exhibition. Picture: Brad Fleet

If you happened to be travelling to Melbourne at the weekend, you may have spotted Simon Wan trekking along the highway with camera in hand.

Wan is one of several Hong Kong artists set to feature in an exhibition at Focal Point Darkroom & Gallery in North Geelong.

The exhibition, titled Imagination and Transcendence, will showcase contemporary Hong Kong photography and will run from August 5-27.

Wan is a “performative” photographer, who, in a previous project, climbed Mount Snowdon in Wales 50 times to take a photograph from the summit each time.

For this project, all Wan’s photos will be from his walk to the gallery.

Wan said he wasn’t sure what he would contribute when he was invited to take part in the exhibition, and touched down in Australia on July 28 without a plan.

“I had a compass and knew that I needed to head southwest, so I basically just followed any road pointing in that direction,” he said.

Wan said everyone he had met on his journey had been friendly, and that the pauses along the way, whether to write down a note or take a picture, were just as important as the result. Picture: Brad Fleet

“I ended up in some places I would have never imagined … the whole point is I wanted to see Australia in way perhaps tourists perhaps don’t see it.

“The first night I couldn’t find any hotel, so I actually slept at the side of the road.”

Armed with a tripod, a roll of film, a camera and a notebook, Wan began documenting his walk.

“I must have something like 50 individual images on one single sheet of film,” he said.

“It’s different from just using an iPhone … I knew the picture wouldn’t come out the way I saw it, because it’s going to overlay multiple exposures.”

The result will be as much as surprise to Wan as to anybody else.

While walking, Wan took down detailed notes in a diary that he will display alongside his photography at the exhibition.

Inspiration behind the trek came from a 1909 book called Afoot in England by WH Hudson, in which the author describes his many walks through the English countryside.

The wide, open landscape, particularly between Werribee and Lara, contrasted Wan’s home of Hong Kong.

“It was really moving for me because I don’t get to see (land like) that in my country …

there’s always a mountain or high-rise building,” he said.

“I came across for this exhibition, but (the experience) was so different than it might be in a car.

“It was like I was touching the land itself … it was so real, the whole thing.

“Every step I can hear the noise, I can feel my feet touching the ground … all this sensation is part of my work.”

The exhibition will open with a reception on August 5, from 2-4pm.

Originally published as Simon Wan, the Hong Kong photographer who walked from Melbourne to Geelong