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Protest

An informed citizenry is the heart of a dynamic democracy. And nothing informs with more immediacy and power than images. Through an ever growing range of media, protest photography brings an awareness of current issues to the 99% who never take part.

Our "democracy" gives us almost no grip on the nation's politics. We get to vote for one of a couple of very similar parties every five years. If we live in the wrong place or vote for a party other than Labour or Tory our vote is unlikely to have any effect at all. What does have influence is the media portrayal of politically relevant events. New media - Facebook, Twitter etc use a massive number of images. They have become a large part of most people's lives. Even traditional media, while still putting their own political spin on the words, have a great thirst for images. And images are harder to spin than words. 

Protest photography is much more than extreme street photography. Coverage of protest forms our social memory, it creates a permanent record for history, spreading the ideas behind the protest and fertilising social change.

There's something very Zen about protest photography. Caught on the fly, seen and recorded in a fraction of a second, protest photographs are truths. Not an explanation of the truth. Not a commentary or an analysis.  

Protest photographs are about as unmediated as a record can be. This is why Photoshopping things into or out of photographs is seen as such a serious breach of trust and of ethics by photojournalists.

Public protest is so potent a force that the state puts massive resources into subverting and undermining it. Undercover cops act as agents provocateurs as well as spies. TSG (the Territorial Support Group - the hard cops) provoke protesters so that FIT (Forward Intelligence Teams - the small groups with cameras) can film and photograph them to add to the police databases. Police tactics are often designed to smear the causes rather than to keep the peace.

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Student protests, Whitehall, November 24, 2010
Student protests, Whitehall, November 24, 2010
rioter squirts paint at police
rioter squirts paint at police
Student protests, Whitehall November 24, 2010
Student protests, Whitehall November 24, 2010
071103_Class_War_042 Anarchist group Class War demonstrate against 'toffs', 'the rich' and FIT (the police Forward Intelligen...
071103_Class_War_042 Anarchist group Class War demonstrate against 'toffs', 'the rich' and FIT (the police Forward Intelligence Team) in Ladbroke Grove, London. 3 November 2007.
7.161/253 Brian Douglas death protest Nation of Islam members  at a protest in Lambeth following the death at the hands of th...
7.161/253 Brian Douglas death protest Nation of Islam members at a protest in Lambeth following the death at the hands of the police of Brian Douglas in Brixton, his skull shattered by a blow from behind with one of the new plastic long truncheons. London. 10 June 1995.
Women's Peace Camp at USAF base Greenham Common in protest against cruise missiles.
Women's Peace Camp at USAF base Greenham Common in protest against cruise missiles.
081013_ClimateDemo_232 Climate Rush demo, organised by anti-airport expansion campaigners. Hundreds of activists chanting "Wo...
081013_ClimateDemo_232 Climate Rush demo, organised by anti-airport expansion campaigners. Hundreds of activists chanting "Words not deeds" stormed Parliament to demand urgent action on the environment. The protest was timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Suffragettes' rush on Parliament to demand the right to vote, 13 October 2008.
Anti-Scientology protesters outside the London Headquarters of the Church of Scientology. Feb 2008.
Anti-Scientology protesters outside the London Headquarters of the Church of Scientology. Feb 2008.
March for the Alternative, London March 26, 2011
March for the Alternative, London March 26, 2011
Occupy movement protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral.
Occupy movement protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral.
Occupy movement protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral.
Occupy movement protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral.
March for the Alternative, London March 26, 2011
March for the Alternative, London March 26, 2011
Put People First march. London 28 March 2009
Put People First march. London 28 March 2009
March for the Alternative, London March 26, 2011
March for the Alternative, London March 26, 2011
"Block The Bridge" demo by UK Uncut on Westminster Bridge, October 9, 2011.
"Block The Bridge" demo by UK Uncut on Westminster Bridge, October 9, 2011.
Occupy movement protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral.
Occupy movement protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral.
A Future That Works - a TUC organised march against austerity and the cuts. London October 20, 2012
A Future That Works - a TUC organised march against austerity and the cuts. London October 20, 2012
Anti GMO March 3
Anti GMO March 3
Blue Shouting Man Reclaim the Streets. Anti road protester leads the invasion of the M42 motorway.
Blue Shouting Man Reclaim the Streets. Anti road protester leads the invasion of the M42 motorway.
Peace March September 2002
Peace March September 2002
London peace march protesting against war in Iraq February 15, 2003. With more than 1,000,000 marching this was the biggest m...
London peace march protesting against war in Iraq February 15, 2003. With more than 1,000,000 marching this was the biggest march ever to take place in the UK.
Sex Worker Strike 1
Sex Worker Strike 1
Youth Protest 1
Youth Protest 1
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