Showing posts with label protest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label protest. Show all posts

Thursday, January 25, 2024

"Journalists play an important role in holding those in power accountable...."

 

Via Brandi Morin on Twitter

January 25, 2024


"I was I was arrested on January 10 while reporting on a police raid on an Indigenous encampment in Edmonton. During the arrest of the camp’s leader I was targeted and told I had to leave the area. When I tried to assert my rights as a journalist, rights which have been upheld by high courts in two provinces, I was arrested and charged with obstruction. 

My editors and lawyers feel this charge is an attempt to send me a message. Now, I need your help to send one back. 

I hope you’ll stand with me."




Thursday, December 14, 2023

Dare to Dissent with Photojournalist Jeff Widener, best known for his image of "The Tank Man"

 Via NPR

December 14, 2023


Sometimes, the most dangerous and powerful thing a person can do is to stand up not against their enemies, but against their friends. As the United States heads into what will likely be another bitter and divided election year, there will be more and more pressure to stand with our in-groups rather than our consciences.

So a group of us here at Throughline decided to tell some of the stories of people who have stood up to that kind of pressure. Some are names we know; others we likely never will. On today's episode: what those people did, what it cost them, and why they did it anyway.


Guests:

Alexandra Lloyd, author of Defying Hitler: the White Rose Pamphlets and fellow by special election in German at the University of Oxford.

Johnathan Eig, author of the biography King: A Life.

Jeff Widener, a photojournalist best known for his image of the Tank Man.


Listen here:



Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Photojournalists settle long fought case against the NYPD

 Via National Press Photographers Association

September 5, 2023


Sept. 5, 2023 - The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has agreed to historic settlement terms with five photojournalists who were attacked and arrested by NYPD during the racial justice protests of 2020. The agreement reinforces the First Amendment rights of the public and the press, provides new protections for journalists operating in New York, and according to the terms of the agreement will improve police training and reinforce proper behavior toward the press.

The settlement resolves a federal lawsuit brought three years ago by attorneys from the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), along with the nationally recognized law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and noted civil rights attorney Wylie Stecklow, on behalf of the five photojournalists, Adam Gray, Jason Donnelly, Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi, Mel D. Cole, and Amr Alfiky.


The agreement includes the following terms:

Journalists with press credentials issued by New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) will not need to leave the area when an order to disperse is issued to the general public and members of the press will not be subject to arrest for documenting police activity or for not leaving the general area;


NYPD will not arrest journalists with government-issued credentials for alleged low-level offenses (such as disorderly conduct or obstructing governmental administrations) without prior approval by an incident commander or a Deputy Commissioner, Public Information official. Any summons for such arrests will presumptively be issued to the journalist on site instead of at a police station, thereby discouraging the practice of unlawfully detaining journalists at police stations for hours before charges against them are dropped;


NYPD officers are prohibited from arresting, restricting, or interfering with members of the press for merely observing or recording police activity in public places;


NYPD will recognize the legitimacy of press passes that are issued by jurisdictions outside New York City;


NYPD is required to provide journalists with access “to any location where the public is permitted,” and NYPD officers are barred from putting up crime/accident/incident scene tape or establishing “frozen zones” for the purpose of preventing members of the press from viewing or recording events in public places;


Neither a press pass nor any other form of press identification is needed to observe or record police activity occurring in public places, including areas where protests, crimes, or other matters of public concern are taking place.


In the agreement, the NYPD also—for the first time ever—formally acknowledges that the press has a clearly established First Amendment right to record police activity in public places, and commits itself to respect that right. (See Settlement Agreement, ¶¶ 14, 89.) No press pass or other form of identification is needed to exercise this right. Pursuant to the agreement, the agency will update its guidelines, amend its current policies and training and will specifically train members of the service on treatment of the press and the clearly established right to record police activity in public. The agreement also makes clear that the increased protection for members of the press does not in any way diminish the right of citizens to record police activity in traditional public places.


“Journalists are an essential part of a functioning, civil society and it’s essential that they be allowed to conduct their work free of harassment and assault, especially from state actors,” said Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the NPPA. “On behalf of our members and all visual journalists, who perform a vital role as watchdogs and witnesses to history, I am very pleased with the terms of this agreement and the changes to police behavior that it demands.”


“This is not an agreement that will simply sit on a shelf,” added NPPA deputy general counsel Alicia Calzada. “It has real teeth and real mandates for improved training of police at all levels. We are hopeful this will truly change law enforcement culture when it comes to First Amendment activities.”


Attorney Robert D. Balin, who led the litigation for Davis Wright Tremaine accentuated the importance of the case. “The treatment that our clients received at the hands of the NYPD was not only unconstitutional, it was unconscionable, and a direct threat to our democratic principles,” Balin said. “I’m proud that these brave photojournalists chose to hold the police department accountable for their actions and I look forward to seeing the terms of this far-reaching settlement implemented for the benefit of all journalists.”


In addition to the policy changes, the settlement agreement also requires that the NYPD provide extensive annual training to all of its officers—ranging from Police Academy cadets to high-ranking executive personnel—on the First Amendment rights of the press and establishes a police-media relations committee to monitor and discuss future incidents involving the press. Additionally, for a period of three years, a committee headed by the New York City Department of Investigation will monitor police activity at protests to ensure that the NYPD complies with its commitments to respect the rights of peaceful protesters, journalists, and legal observers.


While pervasive mistreatment of journalists covering the George Floyd protests was the catalyst for the civil rights suit (see, Testimony of NPPA General Counsel Mickey H. Osterreicher June 15, 2020, OAG Hearing on Interactions Between NYPD and the General Public, p. 207), the scope of the agreement they ultimately hammered out with the NYPD reaches much further. The provisions in this settlement agreement related to the press are not limited to protest situations, but are crucial First Amendment principles that apply whenever members of the press are covering police activity in public.


“The NYPD’s abuse of the media has been a systemic issue for decades, and today’s injunctive settlement hopefully provides a brighter future for protest and the ability of the press and public to document police interactions at First Amendment activities and beyond in this great City,” said Wylie Stecklow, who in addition to his work on this case, regularly represents photographers and protesters whose rights have been violated by the NYPD. “But today’s announced settlement is not the end, it’s just the beginning of re-training and new NYPD policies to ensure there is respect and protection for the press, up and down the NYPD hierarchy. We cannot expect the rank and file to follow these rules related to the respect of First Amendment rights of the media, if high ranking officers are able to violate the rights of the media with impunity and immunity.”


The five plaintiffs in the case are award-winning visual journalists who have published their work in a variety of leading global news outlets, including Reuters, The New York Times, The Times of London, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, Paris Match, Le Monde, CNN, BBC, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, and more.


Adam Gray, former chief photographer for the British press agency South West News Service and repeat recipient of the Photographer of the Year Award by the British Press Photographers’ Association, was the first plaintiff to join the case following his wrongful assault and arrest while covering the protests. He was pushed to the ground without warning, arrested, and detained overnight while covering protests in and around Union Square. “I’m extremely grateful for the no-cost representation provided to me and the other news professionals by Rob, Mickey, Wylie and their teams,” said Gray. “These protests happened during a critical inflection point for U.S. society and I am hopeful this settlement will mark a major change in New York’s police culture as well.”


Jae Donnelly, a well-known photographer, and regular contributor to The Daily Mail, was violently assaulted by a baton-wielding officer while photographing protestors in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. “Our lawsuit has fought to change the NYPD rule book on how NYPD from top to bottom treat us news gathering professionals with the professional courtesy,” said Donnelly. “We deserve to be kept safe before one of us is eventually killed at work. My attack by an NYPD sergeant put myself and my family through much pain,” he added.


Amr Alfiky —who was arrested while photographing police activity on the Lower East Side in February 2020, and, in a second incident, violently attacked by an officer while covering protests at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn—celebrated the agreement. “This settlement is indeed historic and goes beyond the compensation for the profound damage caused by excessive use of force and unlawful arrests towards visual journalists and photographers in New York City,” he said. “Hopefully, this is the start of a new era of how journalists are perceived and treated by NYPD.” Alfiky is now a staff photographer for Reuters in the Middle East.


Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi, a renowned documentary and news photographer, who was hit in the face by a baton-wielding officer while photographing police beating a young man in Lower Manhattan said, “as a photographer working in conflict zones around the world, I was stunned when the NYPD struck me with a baton, splitting my lip, when I was simply doing my job on the public streets of NYC a few days after the murder of George Floyd. It was the first time I'd suffered an injury while on the job, and it wasn't in war-torn Congo or South Sudan, but in the New York City. I'm glad to see that in the USA, however, when the rights of the press are so egregiously infringed upon, there is a legal system that can come to our support. I do hope our trial will move things in the right direction for us journalists to be able to do our jobs without fear of unlawful arrest or harm, and ultimately for freedom of the press and a more just society.”


Mel D. Cole, a widely published visual journalist and music photographer, was documenting police-protester clashes from the Brooklyn Bridge footpath when he was arrested, stripped of his cameras, and held for seven hours. “Going to jail for doing your job as a photographer should never ever happen. I'm happy that I can now put what should have never been behind me, but I will never forget the feelings that I had that day while being handcuffed and not being able to free when I should have been!” he said.


These terms are all part of a larger settlement announced today of claims that were brought on behalf of peaceful protestors by the New York Attorney General’s Office, the New York Civil Liberties Union, The Legal Aid Society, Gideon Orion Oliver, and civil rights firms Cohen & Green and the Aboushi Law Firm. The NPPA had previously filed public comments and testified during public hearings regarding the mistreatment of the press during the 2020 protests. Along with the agreed upon terms of the settlement, the photographers will all receive monetary compensation.


This significant civil rights litigation was supported by NPPA counsel Osterreicher and Calzada and a team that consisted of Davis Wright Tremaine counsel Robert D. Balin, Abigail Everdell, Alison Schary, Kathleen Farley, Alexandra Settelmayer, Nimra Azmi, Megan Amaris, Jean Fundakowski and Veronica Muriel Carrioni, and paralegal Megan Duffy, along with attorney Wiley Stecklow of Wylie Stecklow, PLLC.

About the National Press Photographers Association NPPA is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of visual journalism in its creation, editing, and distribution. NPPA’s members include video and still photographers, editors, students, and representatives of businesses that serve the visual journalism community. Since its founding in 1946, the NPPA has been the Voice of Visual Journalists, vigorously promoting the constitutional and intellectual property rights of journalists as well as freedom of the press in all its forms, especially as it relates to visual journalism. For more information, go to nppa.org.




Photojournalists settle long fought case against the NYPD (nppa.org)


Monday, September 4, 2023

"GOOD TROUBLE" Exhibit extended through September 30

 

"Good Trouble" is an exhibition of photographs that register the power of individuals to inspire movements and illustrates the power of protest from a deeply human perspective. In this exhibition, we are reminded of the power of photographs to propel action and inspire change.  The exhibition has been extended through September 30, 2023.


Protest is an invaluable way to speak truth to power. Throughout history, protests have been the driving force behind some of the most powerful social movements, exposing injustice and abuse, demanding accountability and inspiring people to keep hoping for a better future. The right to protest encompasses various rights and freedoms, including the freedom of assembly, the freedom of association, and the freedom of expression. Unfortunately, these precious rights are under attack and must be protected from those who are afraid of change and want to keep us divided.

During the course of the exhibition, several major news items have affirmed the importance of protest and standing up against injustice.

On May 8, Photojournalist Stephanie Keith was arrested while documenting a candlelight vigil in New York City for Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was choked to death on the subway. On July 7, Keith joined Gallery photographer Ryan Vizzions, who met while documenting the Standing Rock protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, discussed their experiences documenting protest movements, recent efforts to suppress protest, and the increase in the misuse of force by police at protests.

Watch the Gallery conversation on YouTube here.

Last spring, Tennessee Republicans inadvertently turned the "Tennessee Three" — Democratic Representatives Justin J. Pearson, Gloria Johnson, and Justin Jones — into beloved national political figures by voting to expel them for supporting gun reform demands. At the end of August, Lawmakers voted 70-20 to discipline Jones, effectively preventing him from speaking during the special session. Republicans ordered state troopers to clear the galleries. The decision forced the removal not only of the protesters but also of the parents of students who had survived a deadly school shooting and were keeping a quiet and emotional watch over the proceedings. Rep. Jason Powell, D-Nashville, said "We have arrived in a very scary and sad place in the state of Tennessee. Instead of being used to enforce the public safety, they are being used to suppress democracy."

In July, New York City agreed to pay $13 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought on behalf of roughly 1,300 people who were arrested or beaten by police during racial injustice demonstrations that swept through the city during the summer of 2020. In August, Denver approved a $4.7 million settlement for more than 300 protesters who were detained for violating an emergency curfew during demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd in 2020, and later accused the police of using excessive force.

In August, the office of The Marion County Record in Iowa, and home of the newspaper's owner, were raided by Police in an unprecedented attack on the press. Following an international backlash, the County attorney cited 'insufficient evidence' for the search and seizure.


"When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something. You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way…to get in the way". – John Lewis


View the exhibition here.









Monday, August 7, 2023

Santa Fe's Monroe Gallery presents 'Good Trouble' taking a look at the impact of activists

 Via The Albuquerque Journal

Kathaleen Roberts

August 6, 2023


black and white photograph of a young woman Union organizer on a step stool giving a speech to office workers on the lunch break in New York's Wall Street area, 1936
Carl Mydans/Life Picture Collection
A Pioneer Organizer Of The Office Workers' Union, Wall Street and Broad Street, NYC, 1936


Many of America’s most cherished rights materialized because someone took action.

“Good Trouble,” an exhibition of more than 50 photographs documents the power of the individual to inspire movements at Santa Fe’s Monroe Gallery of Photography.

Photographs can propel passion and inspire change, from the images of a spinning Gandhi to the Standing Rock protests.

The photographs document Civil Rights leaders as well as other lesser-known and everyday people who champion freedom across the globe, from labor to social to environmental issues.

“It’s showing the courage and the necessity for the everyday person to stand up for what’s right,” said Sidney Monroe, gallery co-owner.

The images extend from the 1930s to the present.

Life magazine photographer Carl Mydans captured an office workers’ union protest in 1936. An unidentified woman leads the group cradling an American flag. Mydans was known for his World War II photographs.

“Obviously, she is a young leader of a union,” Monroe said. “For a woman at that time, that’s pretty remarkable.”

The photographer Bill Eppridge, best known for his photographs of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, took a portrait of the labor leader César Chávez working in a field in 1974.

Chávez was an American labor leader and Civil Rights activist. He co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers labor union. Ideologically, his world-view combined leftist politics with Catholic social teachings.

“It’s presented as an everyman, a worker, which of course, he was,” Monroe said.

The collection also encompasses contemporary risk-takers, such as Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, pictured sitting alone, dwarfed by the shadow of the Swedish Parliament building. Her sign reads “School Strike for Climate.” She was 15 years old.

“It’s become a worldwide movement,” Monroe said. “Apparently, they had some lessons in school, and she said if these parents and adults aren’t going to do anything, I’ll sit outside Parliament.”

Ryan Vizzions’ photograph of the Tennessee Three documents the three state representatives who were expelled from the legislature for protesting Republican inaction on gun violence. The shot captures a press conference after they were reinstated.

Gandhi, perhaps more than any other person, embodies the exhibition’s theme of a long-term commitment to a cause. His spinning in the face of provocations during India’s anti-colonial movement was symbolic of self-sufficiency. He spun daily for one hour beginning at 4 a.m. Famed photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White shot the portrait shortly before Gandhi was assassinated.

“Gandhi was very particular about having an audience with him,” Monroe said. “He insisted she learn how to use a spinning wheel. She wrote Gandhi called her his personal tormentor because she was using this large flash. It was disruptive to his meditation.”

The exhibition will hang through Sept. 17.


'GOOD TROUBLE'

WHERE: Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar Ave., Santa Fe

WHEN: Runs through Sept. 17

INFORMATION: 505-992-0800; monroegallery.com.



screenshot of article page in Albuquerque print edition


Sunday, August 6, 2023

Federal Appeals Court Undercuts First Amendment Protest Rights

 Via The Brennan Center for Justice

August, 2023


A federal appeals court recently ruled that a protest leader can be sued for injuries caused by a different protester during a demonstration, even when the leader did not direct, encourage, or even approve of the actions involved. The 2–1 decision in the case, Doe v. Mckesson, manufactured a legal loophole large enough to swallow First Amendment rights. To get there, the court disregarded long-settled law and twisted or ignored Supreme Court precedents.

The opinion is so untethered from settled law that it is hard to resist the conclusion that the court punished Mckesson because of who he is: a Black Lives Matter activist protesting police violence.



Good Trouble is on exhibition through September 17, 2023. "Protest is an invaluable way to speak truth to power. Throughout history, protests have been the driving force behind some of the most powerful social movements, exposing injustice and abuse, demanding accountability and inspiring people to keep hoping for a better future. The right to protest encompasses various rights and freedoms, including the freedom of assembly, the freedom of association, and the freedom of expression. Unfortunately, these precious rights are under attack and must be protected from those who are afraid of change and want to keep us divided."

Saturday, July 29, 2023

What these men behind a historic photo taken 47 years ago say about race in Boston then and now

 Via WCVB Boston

By Brittany Johnson

July 28, 2023





BOSTON —

The two men who were part of a single historic photograph that captured the essence of racial tension in Boston in 1976 are reflecting on how far the city has come and how far it has to go in order to achieve racial justice.

Ted Landsmark and Stanley Forman met up with WCVB's Brittany Johnson at Boston's City Hall Plaza, where the incident took place.

As Landsmark walked across the plaza, he reflected back to the day a group of protestors attacked him. Landsmark was kicked, hit in the face, and suffered a broken nose. One of the protesters swung the American flag in his direction to use it as a weapon.

"Ironically, on the day when the assault took place, I was on my way to a meeting in City Hall to discuss how the city could open up more job opportunities to contractors of color and to workers of color in the city," Landsmark, who was a young lawyer at the time of the attack, told Johnson.

"I had no expectation that I would encounter a crowd of anti-busing demonstrators," he said. "My mind was fixed on creating opportunities and jobs for young people in the city."

During this time period, Boston was fraught with discrimination and uproar over court-ordered school desegregation.


black and white photograph of a white male using the American Flag to attack African-American man Ted Landsmark during an anti-bussing protest in Boston, 1976
Stanley Forman


"Boston half a century ago was fraught with all kinds of discrimination," Landsmark explained. "It affected housing. It affected the police department. It affected schools. It affected our transportation system. Redlining had been in place and had made it virtually impossible for African-Americans to be able to live where they wanted to live in the city. The transportation system was one that discriminated in terms of employment. It was a place that was very uncomfortable for people of color, and African Americans in particular, to live and to have opportunities for career growth and opportunities to really take advantage of all of the educational opportunities that exist within the city."

With the racial climate at the forefront, Landsmark said he knew the attack could transcend into a way for him to speak to larger issues of the civil rights movement.

"From the moment I was attacked in City Hall Plaza, I knew that I was going to be placed in a position to have an opportunity to talk about the issues of race and of access to jobs and education that existed within this region. It was clear to me that people of color, and African-Americans in particular, had been discriminated against for generations, and that at that moment, there was an opportunity for me to have a platform to address those issues in the context of bussing as it was taking place in the city," he said.

The Pulitzer Prize photograph, titled "The Soiling of Old Glory," was taken by photojournalist and former NewsCenter 5 videographer Stanley Forman.

"The day I took that picture, I didn't get — I tell everybody, I didn't get the impact of it. I mean, I ran down and continued on the coverage. They left here (City Plaza), and I just followed them," F0rman said.

"When did you realize the magnitude of what you had?" Johnson asked Forman.

"I think when we were in the office, and the editors were looking at it, and I was looking at it, and they were so frightened it would start a race war," Forman replied. "I think that's when I realized how bad it was. It took a few hours for me to catch on."

"What Stanley and I have realized over time is that the photograph provides an incentive, a platform for us to raise issues around race in the city, not only in terms of what happened in the 1970s but more importantly in terms of what is happening now as we look forward with new generations of individuals who are addressing these same issues of racial justice," said Landsmark.

Landsmark, a long-time civil rights activist and now a professor of public policy at Northeastern University, said Boston has come a long way but said work still needs to be done to achieve racial justice.

"There's been a great deal of change in the city, primarily in the public sector. Our city council is elected and is composed primarily of people of color. For the first time, we have a person of color as mayor within the city, and we've made significant advancement in many of our public sector areas, but we have a huge amount of work to do in the private sector. Our financial services area, our high-tech companies, our universities, our biotech firms all need to do considerably more to open up job opportunities for young people of color in and around the city and need to use their private sector resources and capital to develop job training programs and career opportunities for people within the city," said Landsmark.

"In 2023, did you think you'd still be speaking about achieving racial justice?" Johnson asked Landsmark.

"I was perhaps naïve in believing that by 2023 we would be much further along not only in Boston but nationally in terms of achieving racial justice, in terms of achieving opportunities for African-Americans to be able to be professionals and homeowners and to maintain stability within their families. And it's a little disappointing that we're still struggling today with many of the same issues that we faced in 1976 when I was attacked on City Hall Plaza," he said.

Just down from City Hall Plaza, the NAACP convention was getting underway.

It has been over 40 years since the annual convention was held in the Commonwealth, and Landsmark hopes that the return of the national convention to the city will serve as a tide change in Boston's history.

"Boston is definitely ready to take advantage of this moment, in part because our elected officials have embraced social change, in part because the demographics of who is living in the city have changed so significantly, and in part, because we understand that the future of the city is dependent on the success of people of color in the greater Boston area," Landsmark said.


WCVB
Ted Landsmark and Stanley Forman


The message of the 114th National Convention is "Thriving Together," which is something Landsmark and Forman know a thing or two about, as they are forever attached to the story of "The Soil of Old Glory."

"People have asked me whether I thought Stanley should have intervened somehow," Landsmark shared, as he was standing beside Forman. "And I think that in doing his job of taking the photo at that moment, he contributed to the kind of dialog that we need to have not only in Boston but around the country, around the implications of hate and racial violence and what it is we need to think about doing to eliminate both."


Thursday, July 20, 2023

NYC to pay $13 Million for violating the rights of protesters over several days in late May and early June of 2020.

 Via The New York Times

July 20, 2023


Close up photograph of African American women with bandanna covering her face and arm raise in protest march after the murder of George Floyd, Manhattan, New York,, June 2, 2020

The city settled a major class-action lawsuit that said unlawful police tactics had violated the rights of more than 1,000 people who protested after Mr. Floyd’s killing. he City of New York agreed to pay about $13.7 million to settle the class-action suit, which said that unlawful police tactics had violated the rights of protesters over several days in late May and early June of 2020. New York Times journalists covering the protests saw officers repeatedly charge at protesters out after curfew with little apparent provocation, shoving people onto sidewalks and striking them with batons.


On exhibition through September 17, 2023: "Good Trouble". From the exhibition description:

"Protest is an invaluable way to speak truth to power. Throughout history, protests have been the driving force behind some of the most powerful social movements, exposing injustice and abuse, demanding accountability and inspiring people to keep hoping for a better future. The right to protest encompasses various rights and freedoms, including the freedom of assembly, the freedom of association, and the freedom of expression. Unfortunately, these precious rights are under attack and must be protected from those who are afraid of change and want to keep us divided." Visit the exhibition here.


Watch a conversation with Stephanie Keith and Ryan Vizzions, who met while documenting the Standing Rock protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, discuss their experiences documenting protest movements, recent efforts to suppress protest, and the increase in the misuse of force by police at protests.

On May 8, Keith was arrested while documenting a candlelight vigil in New York City for Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was choked to death on the subway.

Thursday, June 29, 2023

GOOD TROUBLE: Gallery Conversation with Ryan Vizzions

 


Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, NM, is pleased to present "GOOD TROUBLE”, a major exhibition inspired by the late Civil Rights icon and Congressman John Lewis’ quote: "Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."

The exhibition of 50 photographs registers the power of individuals to inspire movements and illustrates the power of mass protest from a deeply human perspective. The exhibition begins Friday, June 30, and a special Gallery Conversation with Photojournalist Ryan Vizzions will be held Friday, July 7, starting promptly at 5:30. Seating is limited, and RSVP is essential. The conversation will also be live on Zoom, please contact the Gallery for registration.

Ryan Vizzions is an independent photojournalist who has covered the Standing Rock protest movement, many Black Lives Matter protests, and most recently the “Tennessee Three”, State Representatives wrongly expelled for protesting Republicans’ inaction on gun violence.

Vizzions will speak about his experiences documenting and participating inside social protest movements, and recent efforts to suppress protest and silence critical voices; global trends towards the militarization of police, and the increase in the misuse of force by police at protests.


“When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something. You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way…to get in the way”. – John Lewis


Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Journalists in America must be allowed to safely cover protests

 Via Columbia Journalism Review

June 20, 2023

Journalists in America must be allowed to safely cover protests

(Note: Monroe Gallery presents "Good Trouble", an exhibition of photographs that register the power of individuals to inspire movements and illustrates the power of protest from a deeply human perspective. Through this exhibition, we are reminded of the power of photographs to propel action and inspire change. June 30 - September 17, 2023)


A week after the May 1 strangulation death of Jordan Neely, demonstrators assembled outside the Broadway-Lafayette subway station for a candlelight vigil. Freelance photographer Stephanie Keith was there to cover events, and when police began to arrest protesters, she moved into the street to get the shot. Soon Keith was in handcuffs, being led away by two officers, facing charges of disorderly conduct. 

“I was dumbfounded. I thought it was a mistake,” Keith told me. “I really didn’t understand why this was happening to me.” 

Keith’s arrest might be a relatively minor incident in America’s press freedom landscape if it were not the case that police routinely impede the rights of the press to cover protests and demonstrations.

I spent 2022 as a fellow at the Knight First Amendment Institute researching the issue. I spoke with dozens of journalists across the country, with leading experts on policing, with First Amendment scholars, and with the police themselves (none would speak on the record). I pored over data from the US Press Freedom Tracker, and researched the history of police-press interactions from the civil rights era to the present day. My report “Covering Democracy: Protests, Police, and the Press” is out today. 

The report documents a troubling reality: despite the protection of the First Amendment, the right of journalists to cover protests has not been secure. As the Associated Press’s assistant general counsel Brian Barrett explained, what matters most “is what a police officer decides at two in the morning in a heated environment.”

In most instances journalists and protesters themselves enjoy the same rights, including the right to photograph and otherwise record events, so long as they do not interfere with the activities of the police. But by tradition, journalists covering protests have sought to distinguish themselves in some way—by standing off to the side, but wearing credentials or distinctive clothing, or by verbally identifying themselves to police. In most instances police respected the role of the press and allowed journalists to do their job. But where the institutional relationships have broken down, and particularly when police employ force, journalists have been arrested and attacked in significant numbers. 

The issue came to a head most recently during the summer of 2020, when Americans took to the streets in record numbers following the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. According to the US Press Freedom Tracker, 129 journalists were arrested or detained while covering the protests during 2020, and hundreds more were attacked or assaulted by police, in some cases resulting in serious injuries. 

One of the most notorious episodes occurred on May 30, 2020, the day after CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez was arrested on live television. That evening, as police in Minneapolis enforced a citywide curfew, they swept through a group of about two dozen journalists who were standing apart from protesters, wearing credentials and carrying professional camera equipment. Police attacked them using less lethal munitions, including pepper spray, and shoved several who tried to escape the onslaught over a six-foot retaining wall. 

Ed Ou, a Canadian war photographer who had moved to the US because he wanted to work in a country where the rights of journalists are respected, was hit in the face with what he believes was a flash-bang grenade; he was seriously injured. Ou later told me that because of the violence and suddenness of the police response in Minneapolis, “my radar for what’s safe has been completely fried.” 

Ou decided to participate in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU against the police and state and local authorities on behalf of journalists who had been attacked and injured. That case, Goyette v. City of Minneapolis, resulted not only in monetary compensation for the plaintiffs but a settlement requiring police to refrain from attacking or arresting journalists. A scathing Justice Department report on the Minneapolis Police Department released Friday noted that “officers regularly retaliate against members of the press—particularly by using force.”

Police in Minneapolis and across the country often claim they can’t possibly distinguish between journalists and protesters when everyone has a cellphone. But the First Amendment requires that they do so, as affirmed in the Goyette settlement and a federal court ruling in another case, Index Newspapers v. City of Portland. In that instance, the court determined that police must ensure that journalists are not subject to violence, arrest, and dispersal and directed officers to identify journalists based on observable behavior, often called a “functional test.”

Police at times have resisted that standard because they allege that protesters falsely claim to be journalists in order to evade arrest. But my research indicates that such behavior, while troubling, is exceedingly rare. Much more common, and thoroughly documented, are instances in which police attack, assault, or arrest journalists who are clearly identifiable and engaging in newsgathering. In one instance Australian correspondent Amelia Brace and her crew were assaulted live on camera by US Park Police while covering a protest outside the White House in June 2020. Brace later testified before Congress that she was shocked by the violence of the attack and that she had expected to work “freely and safely…in the world’s greatest democracy.”

Brace is right. The media has a critical role in ensuring that all First Amendment rights are protected, including the right to assembly and speech. The recent arrest of Stephanie Keith drives home the fact that, as Keith herself put it, “the cops are so arbitrary, and they have so much power over you.” As we enter a polarizing election session in which some of America’s messy politics are likely to play out in the streets, police across the country must ensure that journalists are able to document protests without the risk of attack or arrest. 


Joel Simon is the founding director of the Journalism Protection Initiative at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Photojournalist arrested at candlelight vigil for man killed on NYC subway

 

Via US Press Freedom Tracker 

color photograph of NYC Policeman escorting handcuffed photojournalist Stephanie Keith following her arrest at a protes on May 8, 2023
Photojournalist Stephanie Keith was arrested on May 8, 2023, while documenting a candlelight vigil for a man who died on a New York City subway train earlier in the month. Keith was charged and released.

 — REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY



Freelance news photographer Stephanie Keith was arrested while documenting a candlelight vigil in New York, New York, on May 8, 2023.

The vigil was organized following the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was choked to death on a subway train by a Marine Corps veteran. Keith has been documenting demonstrations in the wake of Neely’s death, with some of her coverage published in Brooklyn Magazine.

Keith was one of nearly a dozen people arrested at the May 8 vigil, according to the New York Post, which was held at the Broadway-Lafayette subway station in Manhattan where Neely was killed. In footage posted to Twitter by Oliya Scootercaster, Keith can be heard identifying herself as a press photographer as multiple officers place her in handcuffs and lead her away.

When reached for comment, a New York Police Department spokesperson confirmed that Keith was issued a summons and released, but declined to say which specific charges were filed against her.

The spokesperson directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to footage of a press conference held later that evening. During the press conference, Chief of Patrol John Chell indicated that the majority of those arrested were charged with obstructing government administration and disorderly conduct.

“The reporter interfered in at least two arrests in the middle of the street and we got very physical,” Chell said. “She interfered a third time, so she was placed under arrest.”

Keith, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, told the Daily News she was detained at the 7th Precinct.

“I was trying to photograph what I thought was an arrest but I never even got a chance to see since they grabbed me as soon as I tried to photograph,” Keith told the News. “I said, ‘I’m press’ and they said, ‘You’re not, you’re arrested.’”

New York Press Photographers Association President Bruce Cotler said in a statement to the News that the organization stands in support of Keith and that he is confident the Manhattan district attorney will drop any charges against her.

Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker that Keith was charged with disorderly conduct.

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Photojournalist Nate Gowdy Releases Intense Images from the Jan 6 Riot

Via Peta Pixel

January 31, 2023

black and white photograph of Trump rioters with Trump flags on steps of the US Capitol,  https://www.monroegallery.com/gallery/default/photoDetail/5-07-45-pm-january-6-2021-us-capitol-washington-dc#:~:text=5%3A07%3A45%20PM%2C%20January%206%2C%202021

Two years on from the Jan. 6 riots, an attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, a photojournalist has released his photos from that fateful day.

For his new book Insurrection, Nate Gowdy tells PetaPixel that he was mistaken by some members of the mob as their “fellow patriot,” others assaulted him for being part of the “fake news.”

“Brave photojournalists had to endure hell to navigate that day better than I did,” Gowdy says.

“Many risked endless aggressions to document the battlefront and gore from up close. Not me. Lacking the necessary gear and armor for a combat zone, I captured the wider view. Instead of zooming in with my feet, I often took a step back.”

Gowdy says he was attacked by a group of Proud Boys in the morning and a second time in the afternoon after the perimeter barricades to the Capitol grounds were breached.

“A few insurgents mistook me as a fellow ‘patriot,’ offering water for my burning eyes, confiding in me, and even lending a hand,” he explains.

“The rest of them monitored me with suspicious glares. Because I wasn’t repping my press badge, they couldn’t be 100 percent sure I wasn’t on their team. If I could do it over, I’d cover my N95 with an American flag bandana.

“All afternoon, I worked discreetly, often facing the opposite direction as my lens was pointed, shooting with outstretched arms or from the hip. I religiously avoided eye contact, lest these people take notice of the fear in my eyes. It helped that my lens was wide enough that I didn’t have to point directly at someone in order to include them in my frames.”

Gowdy traveled to D.C. from Seattle to cover what was supposed to be a political rally for Rolling Stone magazine, no different from the many assignments he had been on previously.

But he soon realized that this would be much different and because of the holiday season, Gowdy didn’t have all of his usual gear and was forced to borrow some from a colleague.

“I struggled to adapt to my friend’s custom presets. For the life of me, I couldn’t get used to his ‘back-button AF,’ which separated AF activation from the shutter release,” explains Gowdy

“In no position to troubleshoot, I reset the camera, which made matters worse by somehow removing the AF function altogether! I can laugh at it now, but in my ten years as a photographer, I had never once used manual focus. I’m here to tell you that at a violent insurrection, it’s a difficult thing to learn.”

Virtually all of the photos were taken on Gowdy’s Lecia Q’s fixed 28mm lens and a flash that his friend had lent him.

black and white photo of Trump rioters with signs and flags on the steps of the US Capitol, 3:19:18 PM, January 6, 2021, Washington, DC


“Locked between thousands of rioters at the Inauguration Day stand, I was immobile for long periods. The camera’s focal length forced me to focus on and prioritize the subjects and scenes right before me,” he adds.

The Pictures Almost Never Existed

After escaping without serious injury, Gowdy then had the utter devastation of his Leica Q, hard drives, laptop, and all of his pictures being stolen from Washington’s Union Station as he was traveling back to Seattle.

“It was one of the lowest points of my career, and I would’ve given anything to recover these photographs,” he says.

Luckily, one of his friends spotted the camera listed on an online marketplace and Gowdy messaged the seller who claimed to have “found” his backpack that contained all of his stuff. The crook then demanded $2,000.

“Very fortunately, the thief agreed to return to the scene of the crime and to make an exchange the following day at Union Station with a friend of mine,” explains Gowdy.

“Amtrak Police went above and beyond to work with my friend to coordinate a safe and successful sting operation. Everything was returned in time for me to photograph Biden’s inauguration day.”

The 150-page hardcover edition of Insurrection by Nate Gowdy is available via his website.

“If you’re curious to read the only available book of photojournalism about what it was like to be in the middle of the mob on January 6, I encourage you to pick it up,” he adds.



Friday, August 26, 2022

Miami University Art Museum exhibit: “A Lens For Freedom: Civil Rights Photographs by Steve Schapiro”

 Via Dayton Daily News

Augst 26, 2022

young people join hands in front of bust with others in bus indows during "Freedom Summer" in 1964

Steve Schapiro: "We Shall Overcome" Summer of '64 Freedom Bus, Oxford, Ohio, 1964


OXFORD — “A Lens For Freedom: Civil Rights Photographs by Steve Schapiro” will be one of the three featured exhibitions on display this fall at Miami University Art Museum and Sculpture Park. The exhibitions will be on view through early December.

“‘A Lens For Freedom’ consists of 17 photos and three photo murals that are based on photographs of contact sheets that all pertain to civil rights photographs by Steve Schapiro with particular focus on developments leading up to and involving Freedom Summer,” said Jason Shaiman, curator of exhibitions at Miami University Art Museum.

Schapiro was there in the 1960s with his camera to capture some of the most iconic moments of the civil rights movement. Schapiro was also one of the leading photographers to document the historic 1964 Freedom Summer Campaign. His photographs are on view in the McKie Gallery.

“At the Art Museum, we have been very involved in exhibitions and programs for a number of years that support civil rights and social justice, and we’ve done other exhibitions pertaining to Freedom Summer,” Shaiman said.

This foundation for this exhibition really came about in 2019, when we worked with Steve Schapiro and his now widow, because unfortunately, Steve passed away in January of this year, of providing a partial gift as well as a museum purchase of 20 photographs. So, that’s where the 17 photos are from. We took the three contact sheets, and we’ve blown them up as photo murals, he said.

“This was a wonderful collaboration with Steve, because, as you might know, the grounds where the Art Museum stands is part of what used to be the Western College for Women. Now, it’s considered the Western Campus for Miami University. In 1964, the Western College for Women hosted the two-week training for volunteers, who were going into the Deep South, particularly Mississippi, to support Black voter registration, and the setting up of Freedom Schools and Freedom Libraries,” Shaiman said.

Freedom Summer was hosted by Western College for Women.

“The photos that we have piece together how Steve Schapiro got involved in photographing the civil rights movement. Then, with a particular focus on Freedom Summer, some of the photos were taken in Oxford during the first week of training. Steve was only present for the first week of training,” he said.

The rest of the photos in the exhibition record what he was seeing and documenting in Mississippi, around the region of Neshoba County, which is where a lot of the trouble in Mississippi took place, Shaiman said.

“Steve had a diverse career. He really made a name for himself within civil rights photography. He took some of the most amazing photos of Dr. King, of people like John Lewis, Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks, and so many major figures in the civil rights movement, especially in the 1960′s. His involvement really started with James Baldwin, who was a very well noted writer, poet, speaker on the Black experience,” he said.

Baldwin introduced Schapiro to a lot of major civil rights figures, and that transformed his trajectory as a photojournalist, which continued through the 1960′s. In the 1970′s, he started working in Hollywood, and he was doing still photos on and off-set for a lot of major movies like “The Godfather,” “Taxi Driver,” and a number of big-name films and he became very well known and respected for that work, which kept him busy for several decades.

“Schapiro has said in interviews, that as wonderful as those opportunities were, he still felt like his civil rights photos were his most important contributions to photography,” Shaiman said.

He said Schapiro was able to capture the individual personalities of the people that he recorded in his photos.

“He had a unique approach,” Shaiman said, “There was nothing that felt staged about his photos.”

“He was really capturing who these people were, and what they were fighting for, and I think his approach moved beyond photojournalism, and it really captured a sense of humanity of the people that he was photographing,” said Shaiman.

The exhibition and related programming are supported with a grant from FotoFocus as part of the FotoFocus Biennial 2022. The Art Museum also received support from Richard and Susan Momeyer. The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Schapiro, who passed away on Jan. 15.

How to go

What: “A Lens For Freedom: Civil Rights Photographs by Steve Schapiro”

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month. The exhibition will be on display through Dec. 10. Closed on Sundays, Mondays and university holidays.

Where: Miami University Art Museum and Sculpture Park, 801 S. Patterson Ave., Oxford

Admission: Free and open to the public. Visitor parking passes are available at the museum.

More info: (513) 529-2232 or www.MiamiOH.edu/ArtMuseum. It is optional for visitors to wear a mask.

Monday, July 18, 2022

Defend Our Clinics! Photo Story by Nina Berman

 Via Indypendent

Photos by Nina Berman

July 5, 2022

screen shot of Indypendant cover story about pre-choice protest in New York after Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 28, 2022

A Planned Parenthood clinic in Lower Manhattan has become a magnet for anti-choice activists who don’t want to stop with Roe’s repeal.

Women who have abortions should get the death penalty,” Beatrice, a pro-life protester, told The Indypendent. She wore a T-shirt that read “Hope is here” and was one of several women protesting outside the downtown Manhattan Health Center on the Saturday morning before the Supreme Court toppled Roe v. Wade. 

While the religious right’s quest for earthly dominion over women’s bodies proceeds undisturbed on this morning, that’s not always the case. On the first Saturday of each month, Witness for Life, an anti-choice group, returns to the same clinic, which is run by Planned Parenthood. They are met by counter-protests organized by NYC For Abortion Rights, a socialist-feminist collective that fights for full abortion and reproductive justice.

The Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Mississippi will lead to the outright ban or severe restriction of abortion rights in 22 states that are home to 64 million women and girls, with several more states likely to enact similar laws. It won’t stop there. People who suffer miscarriages or stillbirths could face criminal investigations and those who cross state lines to procure an abortion will be targeted, as will all the people and organizations that help them. Digital surveillance technologies will further the aims of the abortion police in ways that weren’t possible when Roe was decided in 1973.

Meanwhile, New York’s state and local leaders have promised that ours will be a sanctuary state for women seeking abortions and won’t cooperate with out-of-state law enforcement. Mutual aid groups have also vowed to aid those in need. The prospect that anti-choicers, now further emboldened, will step up their protests and harassment outside New York City’s abortion clinics seems likely. If they do, how many of us will be there to greet them? For more, see abortionrights.nyc.


black and white photograph of thousands of abortion rights supporters rallying in Washington Square Park hours after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 28.
Nina Berman: Thousands of abortion rights supporters rallied in Washington Square Park hours after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 28.

More photos and full article here

Nina Berman and David Butow will be in discussion about the current threats to photojournalism on Friday, Jul 22 - Zoom registration here.


Sunday, July 10, 2022

Morris Museum of Art: Art Now Artist Talk: Ryan Vizzions

 Via The Morris Museum of Art


Woman on horse faces down armed police at Standing Rork protest

           Ryan Vizzions, Defend the Sacred: Standing Rock, Cannon Ball, North Dakota, 2016

Join us for a lecture by Atlanta native, independent photojournalist Ryan Vizzions, who set out on a mission to document the United States while traveling in his van and mobile photo studio. July 14, 2022
Lecture, 6:00 pm; reception, 7:00 p.m. FREE.  Details here.

Monday, May 2, 2022

Ryan Vizzions' Standing Rock photo accompanies news release: "TigerSwan Spy Documents at Standing Rock are Public Records. Victims Appeal Lawsuit"

 

Via IndyBay

May 1, 2022

The Water Protectors of Standing Rock were the focus of two court actions this week. The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that 60,000 spy documents of TigerSwan are public records to be released. In a separate court action, Water Protectors injured by rubber bullets and projectiles fired by law enforcement filed an appeal of a class-action civil rights lawsuit. It was earlier thrown out by the court which sided with law enforcement.

Water protectors use their bodies to keep law enforcement vehicles from ascending on Last Child Camp, February 1, 2017
Water protectors use their bodies to keep law enforcement vehicles from ascending on Last Child Camp, February 1, 2017


By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

Top photo by Ryan Vizzions


The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that TigerSwan's documents from Standing Rock are public records. Confirming the ruling of the district court, the high court's ruling means that The Intercept and other news media will be able to obtain the documents.

The high court ruled that a state regulatory committee must comb through the 60,000 documents and remove those associated with trade secrets and litigation.

The lawsuit is a victory for free press. Documents that have already been leaked reveal the names of many Water Protectors who were targeted by TigerSwan at Standing Rock. Those leaked documents also expose infiltrators in the camps who attempted to entrap Water Protectors and provoke crimes.

In a separate court action, Water Protectors who were injured by rubber bullets and other projectiles fired by law enforcement filed an appeal of a case that was thrown out by the courts.

"Water Protectors filed an appeal in the Dundon v. Kirchmeier civil rights case. Dundon v. Kirchmeier is a federal civil rights class-action lawsuit in which six named plaintiffs are seeking redress on behalf of hundreds of #NoDAPL Water Protectors who were injured by law enforcement on the night of November 20, 2016," attorneys for Water Protectors said.

"On December 29, 2021, the North Dakota District Court threw out the Water Protectors’ lawsuit, finding that law enforcement was justified in unleashing a ten-hour-long barrage of impact munitions, chemical weapons, explosive grenades and freezing water on unarmed, nonviolent water protectors. The court decision was deeply flawed and let law enforcement off the hook relying heavily on the doctrine of qualified immunity."

"Despite the disappointing loss, the Water Protector Legal Collective and Cooperating Attorneys on the legal team promised to keep fighting not just in this case, but generally, reaffirming the commitment to supporting the Earth and all those in the climate justice movement who work to defend and protect Her."

"The appeal brief references over 1,700 pages of evidence refuting Morton County’s claims that law enforcement was under attack and had to inflict mass violence to avoid being overrun," attorneys for Water Protectors said.


Friday, March 25, 2022

Figge Museums "New Photography" Exhibit Includes Gallery Photographer Ryan Vizzions

 

color photograph of woman on horse facing down armed police at Standing Roock protest, 2016
©Ryan Vizzions: 
"Defend The Sacred", Cannon Ball, Standing Rock, Standing Rock, North Dakota, 2016


Via Quad Cities

March 24, 2022


The Figge Art Museum has an extensive photography collection that continues to grow. Beginning Saturday, visitors are invited to step into the Figge’s second-floor Lewis Gallery to view a small selection of the museum’s most recent photographic additions.

Important works by some of the most significant photographers of our time provide us with a brief survey of the collection’s recent growth and the varying impulses that guide contemporary photography, according to a Thursday museum release.

The New Photography exhibition series allows the Figge to share with the QC community some of the museum’s newly acquired works featuring objects, landscapes and figures, including photos that will adorn the Figge’s walls for years to come.

“Despite the proliferation of images made with our smart phones and circulated through social media, dedicated photographers continue to create iconic images that stand above the rest,” said Director of Collections and Exhibitions Andrew Wallace. “From the frontlines of conflict to the frontlines of daily life, photographers reward us with pictures that encourage us to look more closely at the world around us and so that we may better see ourselves.”

Acclaimed 20th-century masters including Lynn Davis and Douglas Prince — as well as recent works by Cara Romero, Victoria Sambunaris, Rebecca Norris Webb, and Ryan Vizzions — will be on view.

From the real to the surreal, the exhibition will highlight photography’s continued ability to engage, inform, and amaze. New Photography will be on view (at 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport) through July 3, 2022.


  FIGGE ART MUSEUM

225 West Second Street

Davenport, Iowa

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Stanley Forman, photographer behind iconic Pulitzer-winning images hangs up his lens

 Via The Forward

January 12, 2022


photo of  Joseph Rakes (L) uses an American flag to attack civil rights lawyer and activist Ted Landsmark (R) during protests over the Boston busing crisis, Apr. 5, 1976
‘The Soiling of Old Glory’ won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Spot Photography. In it teen Joseph Rakes (L) uses an American flag to attack civil rights lawyer and activist Ted Landsmark (R) during protests over the Boston busing crisis, Apr. 5, 1976.


Gallery photographer Stanley Forman has retired after 55 years cruising the streets of Boston in search of breaking news.


"If there’s a definitive Pulitzer Prize-winning photo, it’s “The Soiling of Old Glory” — Stanley Forman’s spot news winner for the Boston Herald American in 1976. In it, a youth turns an American flag into a weapon to use against a Black man at a school busing protest.

Then again, make that two definitive photos: The year before, Forman also won the Pulitzer for spot news with a harrowing image of a woman and her goddaughter falling out of the sky in his photo, “Fire Escape Collapse.”

Forman, 76, who began in newspapers in 1966 and switched to TV news videography two decades later, spent 55 years cruising the streets of Boston in search of breaking news, much of that time in a gas-guzzling Mercury Monarch. He retired on Dec. 31.

Or so he says.

“I have a great home life,” he said by phone from his home in Boston’s northern suburbs on the first weekend of the rest of his life. His primary plan is providing daycare for his four-month-old grandson, adding: “And I can do a limited amount of chasing on my own.” 

Read full article here   Jewish photographer who won Pulitzer retires – The Forward


Sunday, August 8, 2021

The Timeless Appeal of Tommie Smith, Who Knew a Podium Could Be a Site of Protest

 

photograph of Tommie Smith (center) and John Carlos (right) raising gloved fists during the medal ceremony for the 200-meters at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City

1968 Olympics Black Power salute: Tommie Smith (center) and John Carlos (right) raising gloved fists during the medal ceremony for the 200-meters at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, on October 16, 1968. Silver medalist Peter Norman of Australia (left) John Dominis/©The LIFE Picture Collection


Via The New York Times

August 6, 2021


"What happens when a person becomes a symbol? Smith and Carlos would both see their careers as athletes overshadowed by the moment. The years, decades really, after their defiant act brought struggle and sometimes suffering: hate mail and death threats, broken marriages and psychic pain. Two days after the medal ceremony, longtime Los Angeles Times sports columnist John Hall wrote that “Tommie Smith and John Carlos do a disservice to their race — the human race.” Even many of those that celebrated Smith and Carlos’s act did so under the mistaken belief that they had given the Black Panther salute — something that, for his part, Smith never intended.

What happens when a symbol becomes a person again? The last decade, a time of expanding awareness of racist violence and trauma in the United States, has prompted a dramatic reassessment of Smith. Once pilloried, he’s now lionized. People build statues of him. In 2019, the United States Olympic Committee, the same body that had suspended him from the Olympic team in 1968, inducted him into its Hall of Fame. The Smithsonian collected the clothes he wore on the medal stand: his singlet and his shorts, his track suit and his suede Puma cleats. And, in this new era of protest, a generation of athletes, many of whom claim Smith as a direct inspiration, are channeling the outsized attention that the public directs to sports toward urgent social and political concerns — police brutality, mental health, voting rights and more."

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Stephen Wilkes' Day To Night Photograph One Of National Geographic's "10 unforgettable images from Year in Pictures issue"

 

Via National Geographic

December 8, 2020

After all the tumult of 2020—an extraordinary year that brought a deadly pandemic, political turmoil, racial reckonings, and record-breaking wildfires—it’s fitting that National Geographic is publishing its first-ever Year in Pictures issue

"Day to Night" photo of Commitment March: "Get Your Knee Off My Neck", Washington, DC, August, 2020, people at protes


Fifty-seven years to the day after Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial, another march drew thousands of people to Washington, D.C., to protest police brutality and racial injustice. To capture this scene, Stephen Wilkes photographed from a single fixed camera position on an elevated crane, making images at intervals throughout a 16-hour period. He then edited the best moments and blended them seamlessly into one image.

“This is Stephen bringing his unique way of capturing time to one of the seminal moments of the summer,” Moran says. “The beauty of it as you look through this photograph, not only do you get that sense of movement across that day but on all those different screens you see the main characters, including Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King’s granddaughter, who were critical to the day’s success.”