OCTOBER 6, 2014
Capturing Hong Kong
Pro-democracy student protesters stand near the office of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, C. Y. Leung,
on October 3, 2014.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MOISES SAMAN / MAGNUM
The photographer Moises Saman spent the weekend documenting the protests in Hong Kong. He wrote the following:
For the past four years, I have photographed the mass protests across the Middle East known as the Arab Spring. In these protests, I have been confronted by a wild mix of emotions, from optimism to heated rage, and the hangover from it all: bitter disappointment.
When I read about the emerging protests in Hong Kong, I felt an instinctive desire to photograph the movement. My experience in Hong Kong could not have been more different than in Cairo, Tunis, Tripoli, and Hama. In the Arab world, state authorities did not think twice before using deadly force to quell the protests. Even more damning, protesters of different backgrounds quickly turned on one another, splintering the agendas of “pro-democracy” movements into competing sectarian, religious, and ethnic factions.
In Hong Kong, I observed astounding restraint by both the police and the protesters. The triads who entered Mong Kok reminded me of the Mubarak-sponsored thugs, who were wildly successful in spurring violence in the early days of Cairo’s revolution. Yet here, even triads kept the violence in check. In Admiralty, the streets that student protesters have taken over are spotless, and the walls are free of graffiti. Protesters have passed out towels and ponchos in the rain, and set up showers for those who spend the night. The threat of police entry was met by a tempered response from the protesters, who expressed their desire to stay but for the most part agreed to leave if doing so would prevent violence. The police’s single use of tear gas was met with such widespread disdain by the public that the police have since only intervened with the utmost caution.
I do not know if the civil nature of Hong Kong’s protest will last. But I am left wondering what allows this society to exercise such restraint, while other societies have been so quick to turn to violence.
All photographs by Moises Saman / Magnum
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/slide-show-capturing-hong-kong-protests
