I’m excited, this weekend we have elections in HK. I still remember the first time I voted; I was in 6th form in London and I voted for the Green Party. I had no idea who was running for the Green Party or what they planned to do, but I knew it was the cool party to vote for. This weekend I will vote for ‘the Democratic Party’ (not to be confused with another party called the ‘Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong’). Their leader is Martin Lee. When I came to Hong Kong I asked my new friends who they admired the most, and everyone always said “Martin Lee”. Later I got a job to photograph him. When I showed up at our designated meeting spot, the parking lot of the HK Legislative Offices, I realized I had no idea what he looked like, so I stood with my camera out and made eye contact with every man over 40 I saw, until one of them acknowledged me. An important lesson – always know who you are photographing, and try to remember their name if you can. He was an amazing guy, he knew the daughter of an HK painter I admired (turned out the daughter was Anson Chan, possibly the most famous woman in HK who isn’t a pop star, I really need to do my homework). He took me around the court and various offices and we took photos and we went up to the roof - literally on the slanted, tiled roof with nothing between a slip of the foot and certain death. He said he liked to go up there to think. I wasn’t worrying about me dying, but I was really worried about him dying, it would have looked really bad if the most beloved man in HK died while I was photographing him. Neither of us died and the photos were amazing, this man could strike a pose at the drop of a hat, a real pro.
So anyway, this weekend we’re voting for the District Council members. These are the people who watch over our individual regions in HK and make sure the trash gets picked up on time and the road works go ahead. We’re not actually allowed to vote for anyone with power in HK. There is a vote for our leader, but the people who vote are hand-picked by the Chinese government, so it’s really difficult to win unless you are also hand-picked by the Chinese government (though I’m sure it might be possible somehow). The last time he ran for office, ex-Chief Executive Tung Che Hwa spent a million HK dollars on his campaign, even though there was no one running against him. He just had to go through the motions, otherwise it would have looked really bad, I guess.
Because it’s pretty pointless, politics is pretty lackluster in Hong Kong. The government is pretty efficient and has sent me a letter telling where to vote, when to vote, and who my two options are (only 2!). I’m now seriously considering running next year (do they have them every year? I should check that out). I really want to be a leader, I really want the power. At first I thought I might be too morally bankrupt and incompetent, and my opponents would expose me immediately, but then I quickly remembered – this is politics, dummy.
I just have one question that I’ve been dragging around with me for years – after I win, should I cultivate society, or enslave it for my raucous pleasure? I can never figure this one out. People are senseless, horrible things, and if you give them a break they just abuse everything and it all goes to hell. The last thing you want is for them to govern themselves. And they’re just masses of corrupted, fleshy animals anyway. However, you could argue that hundreds of thousands of years of mismanagement and misdirection has left the human race a little regressive; a tad spiritually reticent. I like people, they’re probably my favorite things after romance and art. I just don’t know what to do with them all.
But at least it was memorable. I don’t remember pleasant August at all.
It’s Saturday morning, or more accurately, the end of Friday night. I’ve been with people. Generally I don’t spend a lot of time with people, I’m quite busy. This is the 2nd weekend in a row I’ve associated with people.
I'll let you into one of my own trade secrets. When I do portrait photographs, and the sitter arrives, I always look delighted when I open the door and see them for the first time. It's a concocted reaction to seeing them and it sets the tone for the entire session. I don't mind revealing this because I think it's a good thing. This person is paying me to get a good image, and this means I need to manipulate them into smiling and projecting whatever beautiful things they are holding inside themselves out onto their faces.
