GBA Lifestyle News
Founder and editor-in-chief, Rhea Magazine; photographer
Brian HK Chan got his first taste of fashion photography while studying in high school in New Mexico. Fellow teens were starting up photography pages on Facebook, and Chan looked to do something different with it.
“I wanted to make photography more fun, creative and mainstream — at least to us as teenagers — so I photographed every student in my school who was willing to shoot with me,” he explains. “In my first year, I shot with more than 50 people.”
After moving back to Hong Kong two years ago, Chan worked as a photographer for different companies — yet he couldn’t find a place that allowed him opportunities to produce daring, cutting-edge photography. “I realized this city doesn’t really have, for lack of a better word, something ‘indie’ that caters to young people,” he says. In 2015, he established Rhea Magazine, a free-distribution monthly featuring fashion and lifestyle content.
Rhea Magazine is available in both Hong Kong and London, where Chan frequently travels to for fashion meetings and events. This year, Chan’s photography was featured in Vogue Hommes International — something that he considers an “absolute career highlight.” But that’s not all: he shoots for UK-based model agencies like Elite, Premier and Nevs, and as a digital influencer, hosts social media takeovers for hotels — all the while juggling a degree in medicine.
His first job ever? Photographing campaigns for student fashion shows.
