On the streets of Hong Kong, the locals are restless. The 1997 handover has had a destabilising effect. The civil liberties enjoyed under the British are being eroded and the political and legal autonomy is going too.
At each step, the changes were met with peaceful protest. Until in 2019, they reached a tipping point and demonstrations escalated into vandalism and violence. This year, the overlords in Beijing asserted their authority, enforcing allegiance and obedience through a strict new security law.
Now, saying the wrong thing about Hong Kong can put you behind bars. Fear has the power to prevent these slogans from being rewritten, and self-censorship will prevent many from discussing the ideas behind them.
When words are banned photographs take on extra significance and make it more difficult for leaders to influence the collective memory. These images, taken in November 2019, capture the sentiment of many Hongkongers prior to the crackdown and help to narrate history and pass experience on to future generations.

Born in Brighton, I was a boy about town until the IT profession sucked me into a Smithers-Jones lifestyle.
Photography found me in my 30's during a midlife meander to Melbourne, when I spent 9 months blogging about my experiences in India and Indochina.
In Australia, I continued my interest, attending courses and workshops, and taking part in group exhibitions. Then, in 2020, I moved to Spain to study documentary photography and reportage at IED Madrid.
Now, back in Europe, my personal projects aim to question mainstream narratives, provoke thought and find new perspectives on the social and political forces that shape our world.