28 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk
Photo Stories
D
uring the interview, multi-award-
winning Agence France-Presse
(AFP) staff photographer Nicolas
Asfouri talks a lot about luck and
he talks a lot about hard work. When he
received the call detailing his World Press
2020 Photo Contest, General News, Stories,
1st Prize (also Story of the Year Nominee) for
the reportage, Hong Kong Unrest, he was
sleeping. ‘I was shooting around the clock
from very, very, early to late. I think the World
Press called me around 1am. I had to wake
up again at 5am, the Covid outbreak wasChina in his hands
Peter Dench talks to Nicolas Asfouri about his
award-winning reportage, Hong Kong Unrest
happening in China. It was a strange
surprise,’ explains the Lebanon-born,
Danish national.
Since 2016 Nicolas has worked as the
senior photographer at AFP’s Beijing bureau
in China. Protests began in Hong Kong at the
end of March 2019 in response to
government proposals to amend existing
legislation and allow extradition to mainland
China. They escalated in frequency and size,
as did police countermeasures. The
authorities banned the wearing of face
masks. At a demonstration on 1 October, the
day marking the 70th anniversary of the
declaration of the People’s Republic of China,
police red live ammunition at protesters for
the rst time.