‘How Was Your Dream?’ is a documentary photographic project created during the Hong Kong protests between June and October 2019. The work addresses new forms of demonstration and insurrection in an era shaped by increasingly seamless systems of control. The title refers to a phrase used by demonstrators to speak discreetly about their experiences of protest.

Five years earlier, the Umbrella Movement had been quickly repressed by state and police violence. In 2019, the democratic uprising that began in May developed new ways to endure. Protesters were faced with a sophisticated arsenal of control including facial recognition, geolocation, carding, eavesdropping, infiltration, water cannons, tear gas, helicopters, sonic weapons and non-lethal rifles. In response, Hong Kong demonstrators developed a repertoire of techniques based on invisibility and untraceability, including anonymity, lasers, Faraday pouches, drone vision, masks of all kinds and encrypted communication, allowing them to mitigate the effects of repression.

These new devices, which contribute to changing forms of struggle and resistance, also push towards the gradual erasure of individual singularities. In the future, will sophisticated systems of control force us to make our human singularities disappear? Will this happen in favour of a new common identity?

Artist Bio:

Thaddé Comar is based between Lausanne and Paris, where he works across commissioned photography, editorial assignments and personal projects.

His practice is closely tied to current affairs, protest movements, and the staging of information and power. He has worked extensively on subjects including the Black Bloc movement in Paris and the Hong Kong protests of 2019, using photography to examine surveillance, repression, media spectacle, and contemporary political unrest.

He published ‘How Was Your Dream?’ with Mörel Books in 2022, a project focused on the Hong Kong protests, and later developed ‘Aujourd’hui’, a body of work about the choreography and fatigue of the modern information economy. His work has been exhibited at the Athens Photography Festival, Fotomuseum Winterthur, and f2 Fotofestival Dortmund.

Thaddé Comar has also received notable recognition, including the Grand Prix du Jury at the Hyères Festival in 2023, and has been featured through platforms such as FUTURES Photography and the Swiss Design Awards.

Website