Umbrellas have always symbolised a form of passive resistance for Hongkongers, but in a volatile political climate their symbolism has shifted from passive to active. As resistance became increasingly futile, Oleg Tolstoy sought to reflect this new reality by changing the context of a series of images shot at a literal and figurative crossroad in Hong Kong’s history.
These seemingly ordinary citizens, captured on Queens Road Central, Hong Kong’s busiest crossing, are living through extraordinary times. While editing the project over lockdown, the political climate intensified with the introduction of Beijing’s new National Security Law.
‘The images called to be adapted to reflect the changing landscape’ commented Oleg, ‘I cut and reconfigured the photographs, experimenting with scratch techniques and red paint to recontextualise the series. The images now document a distorted reality.’
The transmuted photographs offer a study of change. Red the national colour representing fire and good fortune, now saturates every scene, reframing the lives and landscapes of the subjects. Fragmented distortions echo the reshaping of Hong Kong’s autonomy and civil liberties, while thin scratches in the surface symbolize an accumulation of stress, cracks in an increasingly pressured situation reaching its breaking point.
Embarking on a crossroad, Hongkongers are guarded against the elements by umbrellas, a potent symbol of protection from both nature and nation. As the subjects go about their lives, echoes of the political movement are inescapable. There is a tension simmering underneath these everyday scenes which has been brought to the surface.
(Conceptualised and created in collaboration with Rob Watts a creative and bred Kongkonger)
Umbrellas have always symbolised a form of passive resistance for Hongkongers, but in a volatile political climate their symbolism has shifted from passive to active. As resistance became increasingly futile, Oleg Tolstoy sought to reflect this new reality by changing the context of a series of images shot at a literal and figurative crossroad in Hong Kong’s history.
These seemingly ordinary citizens, captured on Queens Road Central, Hong Kong’s busiest crossing, are living through extraordinary times. While editing the project over lockdown, the political climate intensified with the introduction of Beijing’s new National Security Law.
‘The images called to be adapted to reflect the changing landscape’ commented Oleg, ‘I cut and reconfigured the photographs, experimenting with scratch techniques and red paint to recontextualise the series. The images now document a distorted reality.’
The transmuted photographs offer a study of change. Red the national colour representing fire and good fortune, now saturates every scene, reframing the lives and landscapes of the subjects. Fragmented distortions echo the reshaping of Hong Kong’s autonomy and civil liberties, while thin scratches in the surface symbolize an accumulation of stress, cracks in an increasingly pressured situation reaching its breaking point.
Embarking on a crossroad, Hongkongers are guarded against the elements by umbrellas, a potent symbol of protection from both nature and nation. As the subjects go about their lives, echoes of the political movement are inescapable. There is a tension simmering underneath these everyday scenes which has been brought to the surface.
(Conceptualised and created in collaboration with Rob Watts a creative and bred Kongkonger)
