Award of Excellence
Hong Kong, Times of Dissent
Ivan Abreu
Independent
Brazil/Hong Kong
2019 marked a turning point in Hong Kong’s history. A proposal for an amendment of an extradition law by the Hong Kong government sparked a series of mass demonstrations. The effects of the pro-democracy movement, the anti-Beijing sentiment and the increased social engagement may change the cities political future. The many demonstrations led to violent clashes between protesters and police, thousands of arrests, broken families, a damaged image of the police force and what seems to be a irreconcilable generational conflict. Besides, the governments’ inapt reaction resulted in a loss of the credibility of the city’s political elite, indicating that the social unrest may continue for some time. These pictures were taken during some of the main protests, clashes, rallies and assemblies - promoted by the opposing camps - between June and December 2019.
Ivan Abreu is a photographer, filmmaker and multimedia journalist from Brazil based in Hong Kong. He has over 20 years experience in film, photo and online audiovisual productions. As storyteller, he believes images can contribute to shedding light on lesser-known stories. Ivan enjoys working on longer-term, in-depth documentary narratives. Besides, Ivan regularly teaches photo, video and visual storytelling workshops and mentors international journalists and students. His academic background is in Communication and Arts.
[ ISSUE REPORTING PICTURE STORY ] A long-term project on a single topic. It could focus on science, news, politics or any number of topics, ranging from coverage of a single person to an entire community. The project must convey a deep understanding of the subject. Each submission consists of 10 to 40 images. Each participant is allowed to enter up to 5 submissions. The images must be taken in 2019 or 2020. Stories on COVID-19 can be entered in this category but if you have already entered something in the COVID PICTURE STORY category, you should avoid submitting the same story to this category.
Judges for Issue Reporting Picture Story
