Negative

Negative is a landscape project on the aftermath of the political unrest in Hong Kong. It aims to expose personal and collective traumatic memory existing on the veneer of the Hong Kong cityscape, unveil the national consciousness of Hongkongers after facing a disastrous revolt and propose a new visual strategy to refamiliarize the violent event by photographing the traces remaining on public space.

After anti extradition law amendment protests in 2019, Hong Kong seems to be back to normal. However, the tiny traces on the city's corner have wrought an indelible trauma on all; Hong Kong has been taken away, and many are psychologically shaken and changed. So as, the Hong Kong cityscape, covered as it was by protest slogans and the remnants of Molotov cocktails, conveyed the memory of resistance and the battle against political violence. It signifies the determination of Hongkongers to fight against autocracy. The battles that took place on the streets and in different landmarks surrounding the business district of Hong Kong carry the memory of violent events and induce cultural trauma which individuals in the community lose their identity and hope.

This project considers inverted imagery as a metaphor to depict cultural feelings, mourn for the loss and expose the latency of my own PTSD experience. The images were taken in the places that carry my emotional attachment to the unrest days after, months after and years after the protests. Some emotions are about the fear induced by National Security Law, and some are about the loss of hope. Those feelings are not spontaneously come into my life. Instead, they are slowly triggered by my daily encounters afterward. I argue that the images in this project have a structural resemblance to trauma. My sleeps are occupied by surreal nightmares. The photographs of the traces are the representation of my consciousness and memory of the anti-ELAB protests. And Many were forced to exile.