Language of the Unheard

A series of mass protests in Hong Kong started in June 2019 against plans to allow extradition to China. There was widespread concern that “one country, two systems” would be undermined. I was born in 1984, the same year when the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed between the People Republic of China and the United Kingdom. It declared the handover of Hong Kong sovereignty with effect from 1 July 1997. I was raised in a highly capitalized colony and now lived in a city of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The public outcry has uncovered a hidden landscape of the city, and my self-identity has always been in dispute, which aligns with the fate of the city: between east and west, glass and grass, shadows and reflections, the heard and the unheard.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Police fire tear gas to disperse protestors gathering around the Central Government Office in Hong Kong, China, June 12, 2019. Despite the march has been given a letter of no objection, the police decides to disperse the crowds.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Protestors take to the streets holding lights for Hong Kong’s annual pro-democracy march which organizers estimated that 550,000 people have participated in Hong Kong, China, July 1, 2019. Picture taken with a long exposure.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Protestors storm the Legislative Council on the 22nd anniversary of the handover from British to Chinese rule, vandalizing the regional emblem of Hong Kong with spray in Hong Kong, China, July 1, 2019.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Riot police march on the street and fire tear gas to disperse protestors gathered in an area where the Chinese government’s liaison office is located in Hong Kong, China, July 21, 2019.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Bouquets of white flowers pile up outside a shopping mall where a youngster plunged to his death protesting against the proposed extradition bill. Hundreds of thousands of people rally and walk pass the mall earlier on that day. There are “almost 2 million people” joining the march according to the organizers, in Hong Kong, China, June 17, 2019.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Riot police wrestle protestors down and beat them with batons as the officers chasing them down the street in a shopping district in Hong Kong, China, August 11, 2019.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Crowds of protestors march from Hong Kong international airport to a nearby suburb town after they have tried to “stress test” airport transportation routes and suspend airline service in Hong Kong, China, September 1, 2019.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Protestors gather outside a Hong Kong court to support demonstrators who face rioting charges, despite the rapid approach of Tropical Storm Wipha in Hong Kong, China, July 31, 2019.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

A huge Chinese flag is shown by crowds of China supporters on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Central, Hong Kong, October 1, 2019.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Black-Clad protestors, defying a police ban on protest marches, have surrounded a police station and occupied a main traffic junction in Hong Kong, China, August 11, 2019.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Hundreds of people gather outside Hong Kong’s Space Museum to carry out a protest using laser pointers. It followes the arrest of a student for possessing what police called an “offensive weapon” after he is found with several of the devices in Hong Kong, China, August 7, 2019. Picture taken with a long exposure.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Protestors hurl Molotov cocktails to riot police on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong, China, November 5, 2019. The clash unfolds at a barricaded bridge leading to the campus. Police officers fire hundreds of rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets and students throw back Molotov cocktails, bricks and firing bows with arrows.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Riot police fire water cannon to disperse protestors outside the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, China, November 17, 2019. The clash begins as police move in to clear the occupied campus and the protestors respond with bricks and petrol bombs.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

Fire and tear gas erupts on a bridge outside the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong, China, November 17, 2019. The clash begins as police move in to clear the occupied campus and the protestors respond with bricks and petrol bombs.

© Tsz Yeung Tsang - Image from the Language of the Unheard photography project
i

A shower of blue-colored water fires by water cannon is seen outside the Central Government Office in Hong Kong, China, September 28, 2019. Police deploys tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds. Blue jets of water is used to identify protestors.

Latest Projects

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Stay in the loop


We will send you weekly news on contemporary photography. You can change your mind at any time. We will treat your data with respect. For more information please visit our privacy policy. By ticking here, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with them. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.