Anonymous
Protestors kneel on S Grand Avenue on June 6, in Downtown Los Angeles.
By Nate Stephenson
When thousands organize to express feelings of frustration with society, a certain energy builds and swells through a crowd that can shape human behaviors I find riveting to document.
Through recent protests following the death of George Floyd and police brutality, I’ve collected portraits with a focus on the individuals that make up the demonstrations accumulating from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles.
I’ve aimed to look past what could be seen or exploited as a sort of disruptive mob of anger and violence to a more humanized group of citizens exercising their first amendment right and fighting for a better America through artistic and organized expression.
I used a black and white 35mm and 120mm film format to be more present among the marches and limit my shooting to make time for seeking and better composing subjects.
While documenting the marches here in Santa Barbara I was impressed by the size of the turnouts. Reaching from 1000-2500 people, every demonstration I attended was well organized but didn’t lack voiced frustration with the local police department. On two occasions I witnessed several community members express their grievances through megaphones to officers posted outside the Police Department on East Figura Street. Typically where the marches would cease.
During the march led by high schoolers on June 7, several officers marched along in the demonstration and Santa Barbara Police Chief Lori Luhnow knelt along with the crowd and several other officers after addressing the list of demands presented to her by the community through a megaphone. Not all of the officers knelt.
Comparing that to what I’ve seen in Los Angeles the LAPD officers are tense and firm in their non-participatory presence. While contrasted with the National Guard on post throughout Los Angeles and the store-fronts boarded up and tagged with varying messages the overall state in some areas can feel somewhat dystopian.
Fortunately, throughout my attendance of seven demonstrations, I didn’t witness any use of heavy force from police as the climate of the gatherings were in good spirit with no intention of violence.
In all instances, I see people, exhausted and anguished by systemic racism woven into the fabric of American society who are desperately fighting for change in light of a better America in any and every way possible.
Nate Stephenson is a photojournalist based in Santa Barbara, CA pursuing a career in documentary-style visual storytelling with an emphasis on film photography.
