1312

I originally conceived 1312 as a way to use photography as a form of protest and examine the ways in which the people confront State power. The NYPD is heavily armed, comparable in size to a military force, and commands a yearly budget of roughly $10 billion. At a protest, the people with me are teachers, bartenders, parents, and students. The imbalance of power is explicit and constant. In the streets, I am a protester first, photographer second. A photograph acts as a verb and action whether I intend it to or not, so I’d rather harness that and make it purposeful. My use of color is an immediate statement of my perspective. Using my own creative vision, I hope to question the accepted ways in which we are taught to photograph protests, especially the police. I don’t answer to anybody but my instincts and the will of the people. I get close, I aggressively use my flash, and I present myself as a protester. I aim to break down the barriers that traditional journalists face while documenting political action. This allows me to show the police when they feel vulnerable, examined or confronted. By photographing “cops, not comrades,” I turn the eye of surveillance back on the state.