Out of the Shoebox: Black Lives Matter

Out of the Shoebox: Black Lives Matter

It's always strange going back through a photo archive. I have over 100k photos in the archive, and most of them suck. But there are pleasant re-visited surprises. There are a lot of I don't remember taking that.

There are a lot of photographers who remember every photo they took. If you ask them to find X photo on Y day, they'll respond with gimme a sec. That's not me. My response would more likely be not sure I was there. Yes you were, I saw you! Oh, erm, of course I was...erm...there...I just meant maybe not in that split second moment.

I don't remember taking the following photo. I remember the day, but not the photo. And I'm usually too timid to take photos this close. I'd bet a $1 I made some sort of is a photo ok contact with the subject. I don't remember the face mask being odd (at protests it's smart to be able to cover your face, for a host of reaons), which makes it odd now that I'm thinking, wait, was this recent?

I can't remember the protest details, but the photos before and after this have a lot of Trump / MAGA vibes. This person would obviously be a counter-protester. Flipping back through the archives, it's the person to the right, not fully in the frame, who draws my eye. It feels like a hostile stare, but who knows. I didn't see the person at the time, I have no notes - that person might have just left their cubicle for a cup of coffee and stumbled on a protest. Always a good idea to not read too much into photos without context.

Black Lives Matter Seattle 2017
Black Lives Matter, Seattle, 2017.