Derek Que

Derek Que (郭遠堅, born in 1970) is a Hong Kong based professional photographer.

Derek Que was born in a family of four being the youngest in his family. As a child, he enjoyed drawing but it was until he was 19 where he approached photography for the very first time. Derek had an internship as an accountant but he did not enjoy the line of work. Subsequently, his brother advised Derek go to an opening as a photographer’s assistant. Derek successfully got the job and was very focused in his role as he took pleasure in his time as an assistant. Through this opportunity, Derek learned the technicalities of photography. Although the photographer he worked for was excellent in capturing still-lifes, Derek was more interested in the ever-changing human being. He looked up to famous masters of portrait and fashion photographers as he named Helmut Newton as his biggest influence. He saw Newton’s work as art merging with photography, hence Derek continued his photography journey mostly as a portrait photographer.

Derek has over 20 years of experience in all sorts of photography. He began photographing professionally in 1995 and founded his own company 5 years later. In earlier years, Derek mainly focused in portrait and interior photography where he built his reputation and lead to major clients such as Reebok, Zurich Insurance, Swiss Privilege and Metro Broadcast Corporation.

In 2009, Derek held his first solo exhibition, Calmness & Passion, where he collaborated with famous Hong Kong athletes such as Paralympic gold medalist, So Wa Wai, and Snooker Grand Prix winner, Marco Fu Ka-chun. The exhibition was very successful and became a stepping stone for Derek in the arts world of Hong Kong. Since then, Derek became a part of Breathe Life Arts & Culture in 2011. Founded in Hong Kong, Breathe Life Arts & Culture hopes to raise awareness of environmental issues through art in various mediums. As one of the featured artists, Derek has taken part in a series of Breathe Life Arts Exhibition held in Beijing and in Hong Kong.

Derek is represented by New Gallery on Old Bailey where he also held his second solo exhibition, Dig ∙ Discover, in 2014.

In 2007, Orbis Hong Kong reached out to Derek to take part on a trip to Bangladesh to visit Orbis’ partnered hospitals. During the trip Derek photographed and documented the journey as he and Orbis Student Ambassadors learned about the blindness issues in Bangladesh.

After this significant occasion, Orbis Hong Kong sought for Derek once again in the following two years to cover the trips to India and Vietnam respectively.