All images were taken with one camera on a single roll of film on the same day.
Fare well, Occupy Central.
At Causeway Bay.
Freedom under watch.
At Admiralty.
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Kodak UltraMax 400
Tag: admiralty
Merry Christmas Occupy Central
An early Christmas for Occupy Central at Causeway Bay.
Fare well.
People are packing.
Amidst Christmas sale.
Installation with steel resolve.
Imagine what might have been.
Freedom under the eye of the clock.
At Admiralty.
Unpoetic translation: even if there’s disappointment, one cannot lose hope.
There’s a time to pack up.
A time to plant fresh hope.
A time to remember.
Time to take stock.
Sacrifice.
Hope.
Restrain.
Hunger strike zone.
Merry Christmas Occupy Central.
The central government offices are overwritten with desire.
Home is Hong Kong.
A time to build up.
A time to let go.
A time for nostalgia.
Merry Christmas Occupy Central.
Fare well.
Fare well.
Photos in previous posts have been featured in the following literary journal articles:”Whither Hong Kong?“, Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement: Four Poems” and “The Umbrellas and the Tear Gas“.
Camera: Canon 600D
Legacy Lens: SMC Takumar 35mm f 3.5
Occupy Central: A Monochrome Meditation
All images were taken with one camera, one lens, on the same roll of film and on the same day.
This is a visual meditation on Occupy Central.
Once upon a time, Occupy Central was an idea. It was an event that was yet to come.
It then became an event.
It will be an event that is always already present, even if it ends today or at some point in the future.
At Admiralty.
At Mong Kok.
At Causeway Bay.
Thanks for reading.
Camera: Leica M6
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f 1.4 SC
Film: Ilford XP2 400
Winding Down?
There’s definitely a sense that things are winding down at two of the three Occupy sites.
There’re fewer tents now at Mong Kok.
I’m focusing more on the objects this time – how do you photograph tents and people that are not there?
At Admiralty, the tents are still holding forth, and the art works are still looking robust.
Causeway Bay is a bit quiet these days, though there’re still people who would pause to read the messages.
Thanks for reading.
Camera: Canon 600D
Legacy Lens: Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Lydith 30mm f 3.5
Revisiting Occupy: Mong Kok, Admiralty and Causeway Bay
The sites are being cleared even as I’m typing this.
So, this is going to be memory soon.
Mong Kok:
Admiralty:
Causeway Bay:
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Kodak Ultramax 400
Occupy: Mong Kok, Admiralty and Causeway Bay
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
Admiralty Again
Again I find myself walking around Admiralty.
There are messages I’d like to read again and again.
An expression of people’s will.
A bicycle – I wasn’t sure if that’s an exhibit or simply a bicycle.
That’s an exhibit for sure – I saw this same car on campus at CUHK the other day.
“Jan Po Suen” is the Cantonese pronunciation for true universal suffrage.
George Orwell. Has it really come to this?
Very creative.
Translation: unity is strength.
Pretty brollies…
Colourful.
The number of hours that must have been spent making these.
But the medium is the message, I’d think.
Meaning all of these are so fragile and vulnerable.
Not unlike the will of a people.
There’re obstacles.
That’s the People’s Liberation Army Forces Hong Kong Building – a very visible ominous reminder.
Would a people’s determination be enough?
History, we know, will sort out the villains and the heroes.
They’ve even got a map, in case a visitor is lost.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Canon 600D
Legacy Lens: Vivitar 24mm F 2.8
Street Exhibits at Admiralty
This is getting obsessive, I know. But I can’t help but think it’s important to document these sites.
They aren’t going to be here forever.
I think these are supposed to resemble corpses, indicating that the protesters would be waiting here till they die.
An installation of a protester.
(Very) rough translation: Respect Hong Kong’s right to decide.
The umbrellas.
The hope of a generation.
A closer look.
Another installation. There were many of these on the road.
Learning from history and literature – is it possible to argue against the above banner?
Umbrella revolution – a work in progress.
Hmm…
The writing on the wall.
A minion!
A balloon with inverted umbrellas.
Message behind bars.
There are so many banners.
The people continue to speak.
Still waiting.
Building a community.
If I’m not wrong, that’s the traditional practice of using a slipper to slap a picture of your enemy.
That’s a pretty strong statement.
That’s what it’s about.
Thanks for reading!
Camera: Contax TVS II
Film: Fuji Venus 800
Occupy Central: A Festivity
Occupy Central is, of course, a political protest.
But more than that – it is a festival.
A celebration of a city becoming itself.
A joyful gathering of sorts.
Everyone has a message to share.
The world is here – judging from the different languages.
So many dreams and hopes, so much energy.
The children are here.
There is music. This is a celebration.
Though there’re reminders of how serious this is, as a protest.
Remember what the umbrellas are for.
Marx: “Philosophers have interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.”
The students, the future, have spoken.
Now it’s time to figure things out.
Camera: Leica M6;
Lens: Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm F/1.4;
Film: Ilford XP2 400.
Love and Peace at Admiralty
My wife, my ten-year-old son and I were at Admiralty on the afternoon of 2nd October.
These were scenes at Admiralty: all photographs here were taken by my son.
Supplies station near Admiralty MTR Station.
A phone recharging corner.
The overall sense was that the students were resting in the day.
The atmosphere was of love and peace. There were many people walking up and down the streets.
There were families with young kids, and tourists were snapping selfies.
It really felt like a tourist attraction. Yes, we’re reminded by the banner above that it’s not a party.
There were refreshments for protesters and passers-by alike.
I think there’s a dual character to the protest.
It’s more family and tourist-friendly in the day, while at night, things get relatively more serious.
There were students distributing yellow ribbons.
The streets at that time were not densely packed at all. I had the feeling that most of the protesters had gone home to rest so as to return later.
Passers-by were encouraged to leave behind messages.
This is a protest you could bring your kids to. It has really been a family-friendly protest, in the day at least.
But the umbrellas were reminders, of course, of how things could turn ugly very quickly.
The protest so far has the moral high ground because it’s about love and peace.
The protesters are unbelievably civil and polite.
The challenge, I think, is to keep on being civil.
For the protest to fail, the governments of Hong Kong and China have to do precisely nothing.
I am genuinely afraid that frustrations would build among protesters, that there might be internal divisions, that a tiny bit of friction between the police and the protesters might lead to violence.
It’s a wonderful dream to have – but what happens if the dream doesn’t become reality?
My worry is that my students might become bitter and disenchanted.
In which case, my practical advice would be: hold on to the dream but work with the system, become part of the system, climb whatever corporate/social/political ladders there are in front of you and change the system from within. You’ll then have the Hong Kong you deserve.
The dream of an entire generation of university students is a powerful dream that will never dissipate, no matter what.
You are the future of Hong Kong, no matter what.
Of course, I’m being somewhat pessimistic, and these are early days.
This has been a thoughtful protest – even the trash was being sorted out for recycling.
The thoughtfulness that went into creating this ashtray would be the thoughtfulness that would change Hong Kong.
These are signs of love and peace.
Police presence was token at best in the day.
There’s a police recruitment poster at the sidewalk – I was amazed it wasn’t defaced in any way.
There were speakers’ corners set up at various places.
Anyone, regardless of whether they were for or against the movement, got to speak for 2-3 minutes should they wish to do so. There was a man who talked about how he argued bitterly with his wife as they were on different sides of the fence with regards to the movement.
This group was reading aloud a prayer for Hong Kong.
My thoughts and prayers are with you, good people of Hong Kong.
I pray for love, peace and wisdom.
Hong Kong Lucida 