A study of light pollution discourse in Hong Kong

Abstract

We are living in an ocular-centric, image-ridden world, in which light is essential for the manifestation and representations of spectacles and images. In reality, we need light and we enjoy the company of light. However, what if light and images have become eye-hurting? What if light has become a nuisance, a problem commonly known as light pollution? Would this alter or pose challenges to our obsession with light, vision, and images? This paper aims to discuss the light pollution problem in Hong Kong from the visual culture perspective. Light pollution remains severe in Hong Kong and is said to be one of the worst on the planet. Through analyzing the light pollution discourses in Hong Kong, this paper will shed new light on the reason why light pollution discourses, which could have been anti-ocular, fail to contest the continuous domination of vision and images in a metropolis.