The Great Wall of Sydney has already been dismantled but to complete the picture of APEC 2007 on the ground, the police has to be a big part of the jigsaw piece. Like it or not, they were the one who have to enforce the law and took the action on the streets. And they knew they would not be so popular, especially, the peak of the ground event—confrontation with the protesters.
APEC Meeting in Sydney is over. They had their say but does anyone hear? The protest in Hyde Park became just another long-weekend party with the police as the big bouncers. Protesters were trying so hard to get attention and send their massages through, which we all had heard before. The old tactics included placards, dressing up, music and dancing but there was nothing new or newsworthy to get reported by mainstream media.
APEC Leaders submit Tight security is largely in doubt but after the global embarrassment by the Chaser, the Great Wall of Sydney seems to be shaken. No more police hassling photographers of the Fence there is just a low tension between the police and the protesters in Hyde Park. Some of them even looks bored.
I am pushing my luck trying to photograph Great Wall of Sydney at night.
A series of these glorious scenic shots of advertising space on Sydney Harbour Bridge is fine but taking photographs of the Fence, which is effecting locals the most, is prohibited. For security reasons, 6 police officers come over and ask me me to delete the Fence images I have taken and move on . No dramas, I do so then pack the gear and catch the train home. Obviously, they follow me to the train station and hang around in a certain distance but it takes 15 minutes for them to approach me again and ask for my ID. I fully give them cooperation and finally they walk away.
I am one of the shortlists in Marrickville Contemporary Art Prize 2007 with this work.
I have been photographing abandoned chairs on the streets and in piles of junks a camera phone for sometime. What I see is the beauty of social interaction between the residents. In their short life cycles on the streets, they are dumped, offered, overlooked, moved, scattered, rearranged and finally picked up.
