HKFP Lens: Revisiting the early days of Hong Kong's 2014 Umbrella Movement

Todd Darling looks back at the initial weeks of the Umbrella Movement in his photo series. Over the course of 79 days in late 2014, protesters blocked main roads around the city and government headquarters, demanding universal suffrage. Follow Darling’s work on his portfolio.

September 3: Joshua Wong and other members of Scholarism explain civil disobedience to other students at a church in Sha Tin.

September 9: Reverend Chu Yiu-ming of Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP) having his head shaved in a ceremony to prepare for the civil disobediance movement.

September 14: Pro-China supporters demonstrating outside the Civic Square outside the Central Government Office.

September 22: Thousands of students gather at the Chinese University of Hong Kong as student strikes begin.

September 25: A mask depicting then-chief executive Leung Chun-ying is paraded around government headquarters.

7_todd-r-darling-documentary-photographer-hong-kong-umbrella-movement-democracy-protest-human-rights — Photo: Todd R. Darling.

September 27: Pro-democracy protesters occupying Civic Square outside government headquarters.

8_todd-r-darling-documentary-photographer-hong-kong-umbrella-movement-democracy-protest-human-rights — Photo: Todd R. Darling.

September 28: Protesters clash with police as they take over roads outside the Central Government Office. “Occupy Central” officially begins.

9_todd-r-darling-documentary-photographer-hong-kong-umbrella-movement-democracy-protest-human-rights — Photo: Todd R. Darling.

10_todd-r-darling-documentary-photographer-hong-kong-umbrella-movement-democracy-protest-human-rights — September 28, 2014 – Protestors and police face-off outside government headquarters as the Umbrella Movement begins. Photo by Todd R. Darling

Police fire tear gas for the first time in nine years to disperse protesters that day.

11_todd-r-darling-documentary-photographer-hong-kong-umbrella-movement-democracy-protest-human-rights (Copy) — A protester walking through clouds of tear gas outside government headquarters. Photo: Todd R. Darling.

12_todd-r-darling-documentary-photographer-hong-kong-umbrella-movement-democracy-protest-human-rights — A “supplies station” outside the government headquarters in Admiralty. Photo: Todd R. Darling.

October 1: A student encouraging people to leave messages on the Lennon Wall on National Day.

A volunteer doing laundry at protest zone in Admiralty. Photo: Todd R. Darling.

October 3: Protesters occupy a main road in Mongkok; an anti-Occupy agitator is apprehended by protestors.

15_todd-r-darling-documentary-photographer-hong-kong-umbrella-movement-democracy-protest-human-rights — Photo: Todd R. Darling.

Earlier that day, the police were accused of aiding people who tried to clear the occupied zone.

October 16: A banner that reads “Peaceful assembly, give me back universal suffrage, people’s autonomy” is hung on bamboo scaffolding at the protest zone in Mongkok.