Being Fair to Protest

April 6, 2009

Speak out at Union Square, 2005

Saturday marked two events on Wall Street.  One was the March On Wall Street and the other was World Pillow Fight Day. I’m somewhat sorry that after shooting the political event I didn’t stick around for the cultural one.  It was a brutally windy day and my cheap $10 East German coat wasn’t up to the task of keeping the chill off.

One of the questions any photographer taking their gear out to a protest is how they’re going to depict what’s going down.  There are a number of elements to consider.  People will dress funny.   There’s a ton of cops. Banners. Signs. Puppets.  There might be arrests especially if the organizers have promised civil disobedience.

The vast majority of people will be very ordinary.  They might have signs.  They might be wearing a t-shirt with a logo on them.  They’re not likely to get into fights with the police.  They’re just there to be there and then they’re going home.   These people are not going to give you an exciting photo.  They’re not exciting.  They’re not trying to fuck things up.  They’re not going to clash with the police.  No broken windows, fire, spray paint, or rude gestures.

Not very interesting.  These are not people who will make a stunning addition to your portfolio.  There’s nothing about them that wants to be on the front page of the paper.  So they’re largely ignored by the press in favor of the, to steal a term from biker culture, 1 percenters.   The 1 percent of the crowd that is out to do something that will look great on the front page of the paper.  Something really stupid.

Vets at Anti-War March, NYC

The majority of photographers out at protests are not working for a wire service or a local paper.  So the economic motivation for getting a front page shot is not present.  For the professionals one does have to ask if they’re doing the public a service by focusing on getting violent images which are much more dynamic but don’t represent an accurate view of what was going on.  The photos of the violence are accurate in themselves but does it give the viewer a better idea of what’s going on?   Does a single 19 year old throwing a brick through a window represent 1000 elderly women who are spending their afternoon walking several miles through a city?

How can you depict the path of a protest with up to half a million people?   These days protests are hardly unified.  The March on Wall Street consisted of people protesting everything from the war in Afghanistan to single payer health care to capitalism in general in addition to the stated purpose of protesting the lack of government support for “main street” as the public is referred to these days.  Its impossible to track the affiliations of any individual unless they helpfully have painted it on their face.

I don’t have a good answer.

It just doesn’t seem fair to thousands of people who just wanted to assemble for the political cause to focus on a few members of the crowd who were intent on making a scene of their own.  Reality is frequently mundane.  One might say its the default setting of the world.  Ordinary, everyday.  People don’t become exciting because they’re carrying a sign. They look very much the same as they do when they’re not carrying a sign around.

As photographers we’re drawn to the nail that’s sticking out.  Some nails are more obvious than others but that doesn’t give you an excuse to ignore the others.   If you can’t find a good portrait in a crowd of ten thousand without zeroing in on the black bloc crowd perhaps you need to learn how to look harder.

Posted in News, Technique