Hong Kong Photojournalism Trip
Donation protected
Hi everyone, my name is Hillary Johnson, and I’m a photographer living in Chicago, working all over the Midwest and in Hong Kong. I have two main threads to my photography practice, photojournalism and fine art.
Though it feels awkward, I confess, I’m pushing ahead because I need your help.
I’m going to Hong Kong on November 12 to cover the protest and the election of a new cabinet in Hong Kong.
You might wonder why bother giving money to me or why my voice particular needs to be added to this news event, or even why this matters to you at all. I hear that and I’ll do my best to answer your questions. I’ll also explain what you can do if you’re interested in helping out.
A little bit about me: in addition to being a photographer I’m also someone who studies a martial art called Ving Tsun. This art is extremely popular in Hong Kong for various reasons that I won’t go into right now but if you’re curious you can ask me and I’ll be happy to answer. It was the practice of this martial art that introduced me to my husband, Matt Johnson who runs a kung fu school here in Chicago.
This martial art has a code of ethics that involves being a good citizen, being humble, promoting peace, and standing up for what is right and protecting those who need protection from bullies and so forth.
I made my first trip to Hong Kong a couple of years ago and I’ve been back a few times since then. Though I’m someone who likes spend a lot of time in remote locations being quiet and letting the busyness of my mind and heart settle down, I felt 100% in love with the city of Hong Kong, it’s culture, it’s people, and of course with my kung fu family there.
As a result it has been difficult watching the news and worrying about this place I love so much and the people who live there.
My concern for all of this led me to do a story for the Chicago Reader.
Here's a link to that: https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/photos-hong-kong-protest-freedom/Content?oid=73815391
I’m extremely grateful to the reader for giving me the time and space that it did. I made all the photographs, did all the interviews, and wrote all the text with guidance from the amazing Reader staff. In the process of working on that story I began to see, that much that was going on in Hong Kong seems to not quite be making it into the news. This made me want to go to Hong Kong and do more.
The stories we have been seeing her only the tip of the iceberg. I’m interested in the stories of ordinary people, their everyday life, and what they do.
What are their day jobs?
How do they prepare for protesting?
How do they support each other in the midst of such extreme difficulty?
I want to understand the impact of what’s happening in this interaction between the Beijing mainland Chinese government in the city of Hong Kong in the Hong Kong people.
It’s interesting that Hong Kong has roots and connections stretching out from the city, all over the globe. While working on the story I’ve met many people here in Chicago who have a deep connections to Hong Kong.
I want to go and photograph an interview to help amplify the voices of those people not being heard as much as they might be.
Why do the events Hong Kong matter to you wherever you might live?
Here are a few reasons:
Number one. Hong Kong people are simply asking for fundamental human rights to be recognized.
Number two. The Hong Kong people are asking for the promises made by the Chinese government to be kept.
Number three. The Hong Kong people want their freedom.
All people everywhere around the world want their fundamental human rights, they want promises to be kept and they want freedom.
If we all look into our own hearts I believe we will see this truth is self evident.
What’s happening in Hong Kong matters to all of us, because all of us want the same things; freedom, respect- both given and received, dignity, and agency.
Further, for those of us living in other parts of the world, if we think that what’s happening in Hong Kong cannot happen to us wherever it is that we happen to live, I think if you forgive me, that view is naïve.
The road to tyranny is a slippery slope.
First one right is eroded, then another, then another.
For this trip to Hong Kong all the groundwork is in place.
Because of the network being built up over the years and as a result of my recent work, there are people on the ground in Hong Kong ready to help with making connections, translation, safety and getting around and so forth.
My intention is to get to Hong Kong do my work at the photographer and then do my best to get those stories out into the world so that everyone can know what is going on.
But I need help with the expenses.
Here is a list:
Airfare and hotel around $2100-2400 depending on flight details
Transportation in Hong Kong When the MTR is shut down taxis may be necessary - estimating maybe $300
Money to pay translators and other fixtures and facilitators estimating $300-500
A laptop to process photos while I’m there so I can send them out to editors at various news outlets - around $200-300
I’m hoping to raise $3500. to cover all of that as well as some of my bills while I’m away so that the lights and heat are still on when I return home.
Addition I’ll provide links to news outlets as well as the story I did for the reader so that you can get more information about the situation over there.
I’ll also link or attach a video that I made about the story.
As things when I’m planning to offer in addition to publicly thinking everyone who supports this is the creation of a private Facebook group where I post updates photos and video from my time in Hong Kong.
This content will be exclusively for anyone who supports this trip.
I’m excited to announce that someone already made a first donation of $500 before even launched this campaign which let me adjust the amount needed to $3500
Honestly I wasn’t even planning on doing this but so many people said to me that they wanted to support the trip and believe in the mission of supporting truth and openness and democracy, that I pushed past my own discomfort and jumped in.
I want to thank all of you in advance for your support and help.
Please know that even if you can’t donate money to this trip, I’d be very grateful for your repeated sharing of the campaign. We all know how this works, and whether we like it or not it requires a certain diligence. A lather rinse and repeat process.
For those of you who can donate, please know how grateful I am for your support. And that no donation is too small or too large.
Again my heartfelt thanks. You should know also that I’ve never felt more sense of mission or purpose in going after story. This has my whole heart and I hope very much but I’ll find out that’s for publishing material of the world to know what is going on in Hong Kong at this critical time in history.
As a final note, I want to add that one of the things I’ve heard lately, is that China may be starting to crack down on the practice of martial arts.
This truly is history repeating itself. This happened during the period of conflict between the Ming and Qing dynasty.
It happened again during the cultural revolution.
And now it’s happening once again.
Why does China always clamp down on martial artists?
Purely fear.
Because martial artists, as part of their training, learn how important it is to stand up and fight when it’s necessary. The core of traditional martial arts is about values that respect all people and offer protection to those who need it.
I like to think that with my camera I’m bringing the spirit of kung fu, of the Ving Tsun I love, to my practice using my camera to help protect and defend those in Hong Kong.
I hope that you’ll join me in this fight.
Thanks so much.
Let me know what questions you may have.
Happy to try my best to answer.
May all be safe, happy, strong and at ease. ❤️
Though it feels awkward, I confess, I’m pushing ahead because I need your help.
I’m going to Hong Kong on November 12 to cover the protest and the election of a new cabinet in Hong Kong.
You might wonder why bother giving money to me or why my voice particular needs to be added to this news event, or even why this matters to you at all. I hear that and I’ll do my best to answer your questions. I’ll also explain what you can do if you’re interested in helping out.
A little bit about me: in addition to being a photographer I’m also someone who studies a martial art called Ving Tsun. This art is extremely popular in Hong Kong for various reasons that I won’t go into right now but if you’re curious you can ask me and I’ll be happy to answer. It was the practice of this martial art that introduced me to my husband, Matt Johnson who runs a kung fu school here in Chicago.
This martial art has a code of ethics that involves being a good citizen, being humble, promoting peace, and standing up for what is right and protecting those who need protection from bullies and so forth.
I made my first trip to Hong Kong a couple of years ago and I’ve been back a few times since then. Though I’m someone who likes spend a lot of time in remote locations being quiet and letting the busyness of my mind and heart settle down, I felt 100% in love with the city of Hong Kong, it’s culture, it’s people, and of course with my kung fu family there.
As a result it has been difficult watching the news and worrying about this place I love so much and the people who live there.
My concern for all of this led me to do a story for the Chicago Reader.
Here's a link to that: https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/photos-hong-kong-protest-freedom/Content?oid=73815391
I’m extremely grateful to the reader for giving me the time and space that it did. I made all the photographs, did all the interviews, and wrote all the text with guidance from the amazing Reader staff. In the process of working on that story I began to see, that much that was going on in Hong Kong seems to not quite be making it into the news. This made me want to go to Hong Kong and do more.
The stories we have been seeing her only the tip of the iceberg. I’m interested in the stories of ordinary people, their everyday life, and what they do.
What are their day jobs?
How do they prepare for protesting?
How do they support each other in the midst of such extreme difficulty?
I want to understand the impact of what’s happening in this interaction between the Beijing mainland Chinese government in the city of Hong Kong in the Hong Kong people.
It’s interesting that Hong Kong has roots and connections stretching out from the city, all over the globe. While working on the story I’ve met many people here in Chicago who have a deep connections to Hong Kong.
I want to go and photograph an interview to help amplify the voices of those people not being heard as much as they might be.
Why do the events Hong Kong matter to you wherever you might live?
Here are a few reasons:
Number one. Hong Kong people are simply asking for fundamental human rights to be recognized.
Number two. The Hong Kong people are asking for the promises made by the Chinese government to be kept.
Number three. The Hong Kong people want their freedom.
All people everywhere around the world want their fundamental human rights, they want promises to be kept and they want freedom.
If we all look into our own hearts I believe we will see this truth is self evident.
What’s happening in Hong Kong matters to all of us, because all of us want the same things; freedom, respect- both given and received, dignity, and agency.
Further, for those of us living in other parts of the world, if we think that what’s happening in Hong Kong cannot happen to us wherever it is that we happen to live, I think if you forgive me, that view is naïve.
The road to tyranny is a slippery slope.
First one right is eroded, then another, then another.
For this trip to Hong Kong all the groundwork is in place.
Because of the network being built up over the years and as a result of my recent work, there are people on the ground in Hong Kong ready to help with making connections, translation, safety and getting around and so forth.
My intention is to get to Hong Kong do my work at the photographer and then do my best to get those stories out into the world so that everyone can know what is going on.
But I need help with the expenses.
Here is a list:
Airfare and hotel around $2100-2400 depending on flight details
Transportation in Hong Kong When the MTR is shut down taxis may be necessary - estimating maybe $300
Money to pay translators and other fixtures and facilitators estimating $300-500
A laptop to process photos while I’m there so I can send them out to editors at various news outlets - around $200-300
I’m hoping to raise $3500. to cover all of that as well as some of my bills while I’m away so that the lights and heat are still on when I return home.
Addition I’ll provide links to news outlets as well as the story I did for the reader so that you can get more information about the situation over there.
I’ll also link or attach a video that I made about the story.
As things when I’m planning to offer in addition to publicly thinking everyone who supports this is the creation of a private Facebook group where I post updates photos and video from my time in Hong Kong.
This content will be exclusively for anyone who supports this trip.
I’m excited to announce that someone already made a first donation of $500 before even launched this campaign which let me adjust the amount needed to $3500
Honestly I wasn’t even planning on doing this but so many people said to me that they wanted to support the trip and believe in the mission of supporting truth and openness and democracy, that I pushed past my own discomfort and jumped in.
I want to thank all of you in advance for your support and help.
Please know that even if you can’t donate money to this trip, I’d be very grateful for your repeated sharing of the campaign. We all know how this works, and whether we like it or not it requires a certain diligence. A lather rinse and repeat process.
For those of you who can donate, please know how grateful I am for your support. And that no donation is too small or too large.
Again my heartfelt thanks. You should know also that I’ve never felt more sense of mission or purpose in going after story. This has my whole heart and I hope very much but I’ll find out that’s for publishing material of the world to know what is going on in Hong Kong at this critical time in history.
As a final note, I want to add that one of the things I’ve heard lately, is that China may be starting to crack down on the practice of martial arts.
This truly is history repeating itself. This happened during the period of conflict between the Ming and Qing dynasty.
It happened again during the cultural revolution.
And now it’s happening once again.
Why does China always clamp down on martial artists?
Purely fear.
Because martial artists, as part of their training, learn how important it is to stand up and fight when it’s necessary. The core of traditional martial arts is about values that respect all people and offer protection to those who need it.
I like to think that with my camera I’m bringing the spirit of kung fu, of the Ving Tsun I love, to my practice using my camera to help protect and defend those in Hong Kong.
I hope that you’ll join me in this fight.
Thanks so much.
Let me know what questions you may have.
Happy to try my best to answer.
May all be safe, happy, strong and at ease. ❤️
Organizer
Hillary Johnson
Organizer
Chicago, IL