a photo essay by David William Hill

Three students, Isabella Lo, Prince Wong, and Scholaraism leader Joshua Wong have entered the third day of their hunger strike, declaring that they will continue until the government agrees to reopen dialogue with the demonstrators. They have since been joined by others, but I’m not sure how many. Today Benny Tai, the head of Occupy Central with Love and Peace, and several others attempted to turn themselves in to police. Police gave them forms to fill out but refused to arrest them. For people back home: there have basically been three groups whose leaders have been at the forefront of this movement, OCLP, Scholarism, and The Hong Kong Federation of Students. The leaders of OCLP, who initiated the idea of surrendering to police, are now calling for an end to the demonstrations. (As always, there’s more to the story, more than I can go into here.) I continue to object to the word “students” in place of “demonstrators” or “protesters.” Although many people at the center of the movement are students, the majority of the people participating are not. Similarly, although this movement has included an incredible flowering of creative expression, most participants are not artists. Continual use of “students” to describe the demonstrators strikes me as dismissive and fails to acknowledge the broad appeal of what’s happening. The photos here are some random shots that I haven’t included in previous posts.

For people not familiar with Hong Kong: this building houses the central government headquarters. Behind the camera is Victoria Harbor. The grassy area is Tamar Park. On the other side of the government headquarters building is the occupation site in Admiralty, of which I’ve posted several photos. Lung Wo Road, which demonstrators attempted to occupy a few nights ago, stretches to the right and left, outside the frame, with a tunnel running beneath this park.

Tamar Park, just below the government headquarters building. These rectangular patches were exposed after police cleared away tents the other night. I’m not sure if those two tents were allowed to stand or if people have returned with new tents.

On the left is 18-year-old Joshua Wong, the head of Scholarism who began his hunger strike more than 48 hours ago.

With the holiday season upon us, these lights now tower above the demonstration site in Admiralty.

This billboard has loomed above the Admiralty site since the occupation began. I can’t help noticing it whenever I’m there. I’ve hesitated to draw attention to it, because I haven’t wanted to give free advertising to this company, which apparently sells watches. But I doubt anyone I know is in the market for a gaudy, diamond-encrusted watch sold by a company named after a prominent developmental psychologist.

This map is at the Causeway Bay site. It identifies the locations of locally owned businesses in the area, and the sign at the top encourages people to support such businesses. In the lower left is a place for business owners to leave their information for inclusion on the map.

Although much attention has been given to student leaders and art/artists, there are many people engaged in all kinds of work to keep this thing going. These two men are constructing tables for use in the study center and elsewhere.

This guy is working to reinforce one of several sets of stairs for people to walk over the short walls along the road. In the early weeks of the occupation, many of these steps were haphazardly constructed and needed constant rebuilding. Thanks to people like this guy, the stairs throughout the site are now much more solid and stable.

Inside the “study corner” there are two stationary bikes. This guy, who I imagine is an office worker, was getting a little exercise during the lunch hour. Many office workers in the local area continue to spend their lunch breaks at the demonstration site.

Among the people camped right next to the government headquarters is a group that has been intensely dedicated to recycling everything. (I’ve posted about them before.) The bags in this cage are filled with styrofoam food containers, which are being cut up and used to stuff pillows. I’m not sure what they plan to do with the plastic bags.

A drawing in Admiralty.

I took this photo a few weeks ago, when the police cleared Queensway. I had no idea why they were being collected, but the other night, when demonstrators attempted to occupy Lung Wo Road, I saw a guy I’ve gotten to know with a sign just like that round blue one strapped to his arm as a shield for protection against police batons. I haven’t seen him since, but I’ve been told he was not arrested.

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