The Hong Kong Maritime Museum presented an exhibition of Hong Kong in the 1950s, entitled “One Man’s Legacy: Lee Fook Chee’s Photographs, Hong Kong in the 1950s” last year.

The pontoon of the Aberdeen Tai Pak Floating Restaurant. Some pre-war shop-houses stand to the left. Photo: The Estate of Lee Fook Chee.

Lee Fook Chee was born in Singapore and became a seaman. He then came to Hong Kong in 1947.

The Cheung Chau landing looking farther to the right; a Marine Police launch lies alongside the pier. Photo: The Estate of Lee Fook Chee.

He became a photographer with the help of his cousin, who owned a studio, and started photographing Hong Kong in the mid 20th century.

The Tsim Sha Tsui bus terminus, just beyond the Star Ferry Pier and deside the ‘KRC’ terminus. Photo: The Estate of Lee Fook Chee.

In the 1960s, Lee abandoned photography and ran a grocery store in the New Territories instead.

Along the Western praya rice is offloaded from sampans and junks. Photo: The Estate of Lee Fook Chee.

His work shows the changes and harbour development Hong Kong has experienced since 1950.

A pre-war Star Ferry crosses Victoria Harbour to Central District, with The Peak rising behind. Photo: The Estate of Lee Fook Chee. Photo: The Estate of Lee Fook Chee.

The Lee collection shows the Tanka people’s fishing spots, Central, The Peak, as well as Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui and the New Territories. There are also photographs of cargo junks, ferries, and life at Victoria Harbour.

Sailors from one of the Commonwealth navies, posed for a portrait at The Peak. Photo: The Estate of Lee Fook Chee.

A cargo junk in the western harbor. Photo: The Estate of Lee Fook Chee.

Cars, including a newly imported Volkswagen ‘Beetle’, are parked on the recent Central Reclamation, with the Chartered Bank under redevelopment. Photo: The Estate of Lee Fook Chee.

Rickshaws wait in Wyndham Street. Photo: The Estate of Lee Fook Chee.