Yes Madam, Sorry Ah Sir

A police-themed photobook, local photographer Yang Deming tries to abandon the usual documentary photography shooting techniques, no longer sympathizes with others or captures some intense and emotional images, and instead uses a relaxed and humorous approach to penetrate police affairs. The existing class and power images of personnel are used to show and explore another aspect of this profession, so that the public can reflect on the nature of this profession by themselves.

A police-themed photobook, local photographer Yang Deming tries to abandon the usual documentary photography shooting techniques, no longer sympathizes with others or captures some intense and emotional images, and instead uses a relaxed and humorous approach to penetrate police affairs. The existing class and power images of personnel are used to show and explore another aspect of this profession, so that the public can reflect on the nature of this profession by themselves.

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Photographer's statement:

In the past, I mostly took ordinary citizens as my subjects, but this time I focused on the daily life of the police. People in uniform have always fascinated me, they look professional, disciplined, obedient, smart, efficient, and easily repressed. This is also the impression conveyed to us by many government propaganda materials and movies. However, in my personal observation, these seemingly "monolithic" members of the disciplined services are just like ordinary people. They eat and sleep, laugh and get angry. They seem to be stupid and smart at times. Bad luck from time to time. What interests me is that there seems to be an internal tension between their collective behavior and their individual consciousness. In fact, they are ordinary citizens, but they are equipped with weapons and the power to enforce the law, which is what attracts the most attention.

Hong Kong people like to call the police officer "Ah Sir" and the police lady "Madam". This is probably a tradition left over from the British colony. Although this kind of appellation has the meaning of respect, it also clearly has class distinctions. I hope that through the observation of the lens and theatrical images, I can penetrate the inherent class and power images of police officers with my own eyes, and discover another rare visual narrative and expression form about them.

Friends who are familiar with my past works know that I like to observe myself, society and the world from my "unique" perspective. Although this is not the mainstream path of traditional documentary photography, it is definitely in line with my long-awaited attempt to broaden documentary photography. Comedy in the film industry has never been taken seriously, and comedy in photography seems to be even more marginal. But in any case, "a space free from fear and free creation" is definitely the ideal I pursue, and "playing the world" and "respecting diversity" are the values ​​I embrace, which is beyond doubt.

I t is a campaign to publish a photobook about Hong Kong Police Force. Local photographer Paul Yeung tries to challenge the routine of traditional documentary, which sometimes captures the most sensational and vigorous moments to provoke audience. In contrast, Yeung adopts a hum orous and distant point of views to penetrate the deeply-rooted superiority and authority image of the police, and reveal the less-known side of them, in order to raise a thinking about the essence and meaning of the profession.