Visual Arts

The purpose of《Wounds of Hong Kong》is to record police brutality. All 24 interviewees have sacrificed in their own ways during the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement. Among the thousands wounded, they are only a few. I would like to sincerely thank them for sharing their experience, insights, and feelings to me.

I remember at the beginning of the resistance outbreak in June of 2019. As a photographer/journalist, I felt unsure. Protesters all covered their faces with masks, so how could I tell their stories? How can I search their ethos beneath the masks? However, my worry was quickly swept away as I realized that they weren’t the only ones fighting, so were you and I. Apart from the street clashes, the daily challenges these protesters face also reflect the problems in Hong Kong’s society. For example, after being injured by the police, teenagers may not able to go home due to their pro-establishment parents. That begs the question, shouldn’t a ‘home’ be a place for recovery? When someone was injured on the head with blood streaming down his face, the only thing on his mind was about whether or not he could still travel the next day and risk his girlfriend being upset. Later, a district councilor was attacked in a middle-class housing estate. The background of the suspect reflected that red capital was driving up property prices in Hong Kong. The Chinese Communist Party’s power had rooted itself deeply into every sector and class of Hong Kong.

Housing problems are major worries for Hong Kong citizens. Because it is impossible to afford the cost of a studio, the photograph locations were almost always at public places like back alleys and parks. I had to hide the backgrounds. The thing that worried me more was being disturbed by the police when I was in the middle of a shoot, so I needed to finish within a short period of time. Interviewees and I met near the places where they lived or worked. Unexpectedly, when they led me going through streets and alleys, looking for a safe place for picture taking, I felt like I saw their lives and understood them more.

In the past year, the slogan we shouted the most has evolved form “Hong Kong people, add oil” to “Hong Kong people, revenge!” But what exactly are ‘Hong Kong people’? What do we love about Hong Kong? As a 80s child, the Hong Kongers I knew when I was young weren’t actually good. Hong Kong people were a community under popular culture, watching Hong Kong films and listening to Cantopop. They were opportunistic, and didn’t value beliefs. But at protests, Hong Kong people show new qualities like justice, unity, creativity, and courage. The joy and sorrow that we have experienced together form their ethic identity, and sorrows often come from places deeper than joy. We can proudly say that we had defined a new definition for ‘Hong Kong people.’