So – I managed to go to all three sites on the same afternoon.
At Mong Kok.
People are still smiling.
Mannequins are still standing.
Though there’s a sense that this might be over soon…
I’ll never look at umbrellas the same way again.
Umbrellas and street culture are now intertwined.
Lots of artists have emerged.
Every person an umbrella.
We are all umbrellas.
No violence, please.
The hope of a generation is here.
I’m ambivalent when it comes to the police.
The police stands for law and order.
I respect the police, but what happens when the law privileges a particular social order that is in question?
Over at Admiralty.
An umbrella community.
We’re all waiting and watching.
We see the organic growth of a community.
A community that stands for something.
An artful and thoughtful community is emerging.
Though it’s all eggs against a brick wall.
Vigilance.
Constant vigilance.
A poem by Gu Cheng entitled “A Generation”: Dark night has given me dark eyes, but I’m using them to look for brightness.
These are students of history and poetry.
I see students like this on campus every day.
I teach them poetry and creative writing.
They’re somewhat goofy, always respectful, and many do have a strange fondness for Doraemon soft toys.
They bring these soft toys along with them for pictures on graduation day.
Now they’re a force of social change, graduating with honours.
It’s not just the students, of course.
The carpenters show up to be carpenters.
It is already done.
Even if the barricades are cleared and all have gone home, Occupy Central would be that powerful idea that will be always ever present.
The rest is just documentation.
Occupy Central is already set in memory, in photographs, social media, in newspaper and government reports.
The skeleton of the umbrella is strong.
There are no wasted bodies on the streets.
They know what they want.
At Causeway Bay.
The Hong Kong people.
The small business owners.
The umbrella is looking somewhat tattered but the sentiment is strong.
Rough translation: the work is hard but keep going.
In the end, history will decide.
Camera: Canon 600D
Legacy Lenses: SMC Takumar 24mm f 3.5, Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Oreston 50mm f 1.8
Hong Kong Lucida 
How did the umbrella become such a symbol in all of this?
It was used as a shield against pepper spray and teargas used by the police one evening during an early period of the movement.