Telepresence: protest at a distance is a photographic project created by an overseas Hong Kong student in the UK. In solidarity with the protestors in Hong Kong's democratic movement, this photographic project is created to show a supportive stance towards the democratic progression in Hong Kong. In addition, the artist also explores the relation between new media technologies and activism. The project has resulted in a collection of portraits of overseas Hong Kong students in United Kingdom who are in support of democratic movements in Hong Kong.
As inspired by the works of many contemporary artists and photographers, such as Clement Briend's 'In-Berlin' and John Clang's 'Being Together', in which they both contrasted projected virtual spaces with real subjects, the artist has decided to use projection as the visual metaphoric representation of the technology-mediated virtuality. On one hand, the project has helped the subjects in the project to establish a sense of unity with the other protestors in Hong Kong. On the other hand, the coexistence and juxtaposition of the projected "virtual protest spaces" and those "real protestors" should form a thought-provoking rhetoric that contests viewers' perceptions on political engagement.
Telepresence: Protest at a distance
