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Annie Cheung

Equine photographer Alex Evers has the utmost respect for his subjects. “It’s my job to make a picture as good as the horse is,” the American says.
When the 40-year-old, winner of a Media Eclipse Award – presented annually for outstanding racing journalism in the United States – turns his lens to the action on a racecourse, he wants to capture the beauty, speed and athleticism of horse and jockey.
“That’s always my drive [...] to be able to articulate that in the photo and share that with fans [who] can’t get on a horse or can’t get really close to a horse,” he says.
Evers was recently in Hong Kong for the opening of his “Salute Our Heroes” exhibition, held on various dates in June and July at the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Happy Valley and Sha Tin racecourses to mark the end of the 2023/24 racing season.

The 30 images featured in the exhibition highlighted some of the season’s most breathtaking moments, and included portraits of champions like Romantic Warrior, who was just named Hong Kong Horse of the Year, and another champion, Golden Sixty.
Evers, who wanted to be a jockey as a child, quips that when he was old enough to pick up a camera he figured being an equine photographer “was the easiest way for me to get a credential and then go to the races for free”.

Evers says that of all the exhibition’s photos, the most meaningful is the one showing an aerial view of Happy Valley Racecourse.
“It’s a picture that I wanted to make for so many years, and I had to figure out how to do it,” he says.
“And it would never have been possible without Hong Kong racing fans and the guys that worked at the [nearby] Crowne Plaza [hotel] that were big racing fans, who took me to a special spot to make that picture.”
Although his photos are vibrant, Evers is actually colour blind.

He says that colour-blind photographers can see contrast better, and since colour grading – the post-production process of tweaking an image’s hues, contrast and more – is more maths than art, the condition does not greatly affect his work.
“The only thing I notice is, if I can’t get the colour of the grass quite right, I tend to go black and white [...] but I’ve never had anyone say, ‘Your colours look funny to me,’” he says.
The view from Happy Valley racecourse is one of a kind, Evers says, with skyscrapers surrounding the track on which horses can be watched from close.
“Backdrops are incredible here [...] You get the horse real close and the high rises. It never gets old, to be honest.”
Although Evers’ exhibition ended with this year’s racing season, Hong Kong Jockey Club says it will invite him back to photograph major events in the future.


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Photography

US horse racing photographer on capturing the moment, and ‘incredible’ Happy Valley

US equine photographer Alex Evers. Photo: Alex Evers

American horse racing photographer Alex Evers with champion racehorse Golden Sixty in Hong Kong. The Media Eclipse Award winner talks about capturing the best moments in Hong Kong horse racing and why Happy Valley Racecourse “never gets old”. Photo: Hong Kong Jockey Club

A photo taken by Evers shows Golden Sixty on its way to victory at the Longines Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin Racecourse in December 2023. Photo: Alex Evers/Hong Kong Jockey Club

A photo taken by Evers shows Romantic Warrior racing in the G1 FWD QEII Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse in April 2024. Photo: Alex Evers/Hong Kong Jockey Club

A photo taken by Evers shows Romantic Warrior and jockey James McDonald at the G1 FWD QEII Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse. Photo: Photo: Alex Evers/ Hong Kong Jockey Club

How to put Hong Kong on global cultural map and drive arts tourism: star cellist’s tips

Cellist Trey Lee performs with the Camerata Salzburg orchestra during the 2023 edition of Musicus Fest. Photo: Musicus Society

Star cellist Trey Lee, co-founder of Hong Kong’s Musicus Society, gives his tips on how to make the city stand out on the global cultural map and drive tourism through the arts. Photo: Musicus Society

Lee performs with the Camerata Salzburg orchestra during the 2023 edition of Musicus Fest, an annual festival organised by Musicus Society, in Hong Kong. Photo: Musicus Society

Lee (third right) performs with Musicus Soloists Hong Kong at the House of Music Hungary in Budapest, Hungary, in June 2024. Photo: Musicus Society

Lee’s latest album, Seasons Interrupted, addresses the climate crisis through rearrangements of season-themed works originally by Franz Schubert and Astor Piazzolla. Photo: Musicus Society

High-end gallery closure in Hong Kong raises questions over state of city’s art market

The exterior of Lévy Gorvy Dayan & Wei, photographed under an old name, in Central, in 2020. Photo: Google Maps

The exterior of Lévy Gorvy Dayan & Wei, photographed under an old name, in Central, in 2020. News of the gallery’s closure at the end of 2024 has raised questions over the future of Hong Kong’s art market. Photo: Google Maps

Rebecca Wei is Lévy Gorvy Dayan & Wei’s partner in charge of Asia. Photo: Rebecca Wei

Amanda Hon is managing director of Ben Brown Fine Arts in Hong Kong and co-president of the HKAGA.

How British-Chinese lion dancer in documentary stops being shy wearing lion head, uniform

Kelvin Chan practises lion dance in a still from the documentary Heart of the Lion. Photo: Heart of the Lion

Kelvin Chan practises lion dance in a still from Heart of the Lion, an upcoming documentary that explores the topics of identity, belonging and community through the Chinese performing art. Photo: Heart of the Lion

Kelvin Chan performs a lion dance in a still from Heart of the Lion, a new documentary from director Rosanna Lee. Photo: Heart of the Lion

Chan trained in Chinese martial arts in London. Photo: Heart of the Lion

Filmmaker Rosanna Lee (right) with Chan at the M+ museum of visual culture in Hong Kong. Photo: Edmond So

Chan as a child playing with a smaller version of a lion’s head. Photo: Courtesy of Kelvin Chan

Chan (centre) practises martial arts at the Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall in Fanling, Hong Kong. Photo: Louise Tse

Lifestyle

Arts & Culture

Sport

Hong Kong

Racing

Alex Evers talks about his Hong Kong exhibition of horse racing photos, why he loves the Happy Valley track and how being colour blind helps


American equine photographer Alex Evers talks about capturing moments from Hong Kong’s 2023/24 horse racing season for his Hong Kong Jockey Club exhibition, and why Happy Valley Racecourse is special.


Hong Kong Jockey Club

Hong Kong racing

HKJC