I understand that some really great media outlets can’t afford to pay for photographs, and I sympathize. Where my sympathies end is when a media outlet has the expectation that I will make photographs for them for free.
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Hundreds of protesters, many of them college students, gathered around the statue called Silent Sam tonight at 7:00 PM on the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill to voice their concerns about the presence of the Confederate monument. Buoyed by the recent national exposure white supremacy has been receving in the media, and emboldened by the actions of activists in neighboring Durham, the action was expected to draw large crowds and possibly some opposition. In response, Governer Roy Cooper informed UNC leaders that the 2015 law forbidding removal of monuments such as these contained a provision that would allow for their removal in the case of public safety concerns. UNC declined to remove the statue.
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I've had a lot of people ask me why I'm making photographs at protests, demonstrations, and other activist events. Sometimes, this question is posed by activists who are sensitive to public exposure and mistrusting of new faces. Other times, the question feels like a more curious exploration of my movitations or an effort to create some rapport. Either way, the answer is always the same, and is always too long to explain in a moment. I figure I'll try here.
Read MoreI went to a screening of I Am Not Your Negro last night with my partner. It was a compelling, demanding film. I’m not going to review the film here as there are plenty of reviews already on the Internet written by people with a great deal more skill and discernment than I possess. All I’ll say on that matter is this: Go see it.
What I do want to talk about, and what I am most qualified to discuss, is the answer to the question my partner asked me as we were walking home. She asked, “How did you feel about the movie?”
My interest in making photographs of protests started in late January, 2017. I’ve never been involved in politics or activism but the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States of America affected me in strong and surprising ways. While visiting a local coffee shop with my partner, I saw a sign advertising inexpensive bus tickets to the inauguration protests. That was the moment I decided I was going to try to document the protests and what I thought could potentially be a significant event in our nation’s history.
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