SO is a Hong Kong-based fine art photographer and educator. She holds an MFA degree from the Yale School of Art and has attended the MA program in Arts Administration at Columbia University. She has been awarded the Lila Acheson Wallace Scholarship from Reader’s Digest, the Arts Administration Fund from Columbia University, and a full tuition waiver from Yale University. In addition to her administrative roles at the Museum of Chinese in American, New York and the Hong Kong Arts Centre, she has taught at the SVA, RMIT, BCU, SCAD, and other higher education institutions since the mid-90s.
SO’s photographic work focuses on capturing the dynamic and ever-changing cityscape of Hong Kong. She has obtained numerous publication and exhibition grants from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. Her work has been showcased in Asian cities including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Singapore, and Seoul, as well as overseas locations such as Wellington, Frankfurt, Vienna, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, New Haven, and Richmond. She was selected as a finalist for the Asian Art Prize in 2008, 2011 and 2013.
To commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens in 2021, the Art Promotion Office entrusted SO with the creation of site-specific artwork for the “Hi! Flora, Fauna” project. She was previously commissioned by Nikon Asia for the 4th edition of the “Through Asian Eyes” campaign, which was curated by the Objectifs Center for Photography and Film in Singapore. One of her series, “A Thousand Messages,” was featured at the thematic exhibition of the 4th Hong Kong International Photo Festival and acquired by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
Her current projects, “Nights in Suspense” and “Nightlife,” represent another milestone in her artistic pursuit. They provide insights into Hong Kong’s urban environment and city life at night. Her deep understanding of the subject matter was cultivated through her personal experiences of enduring long-term insomnia and severe anemia spanning a five-year period.