The Power of Protest Photography
A new exhibition captures the rallies, riots, marches, and demonstrations that erupted in New York City between 1980 and 2000. Entitled “Whose Streets? Our Streets!” the current show at the Bronx Documentary Center explores residents’ reactions to two decades of swift economic and demographic change. The era was consumed by issues of police brutality, gentrification, AIDS, gay and lesbian rights, reproductive rights, U.S. foreign policy and military actions, and education and labor relations.
“While this cohort of photographers had made very powerful photographs of protests in New York City during these tumultuous decades, because they were working independently and before the advent of the internet and social media, much of their work had never been seen,” Tamar Carroll, co-curator of the show, said. Many of the protesters’ concerns are still making headlines today, Carroll added, and the inauguration of Donald Trump—and the opposition he has inspired—have made imagery of civic unrest more relevant than ever before. “Photographing these events was crucial for the historical record,” co-curator Meg Handler added.
Manhattan, 1995: Squatters defend their building by blocking the street with overturned cars and trash before an expected attack by the police on East 13th Street. # © Andrew Lichtenstein
Manhttan, 1999: Demonstrators gather in front of the New York Stock Exchange to demand the indictment of the four policemen who killed Amadou Diallo, a 23-year-old unarmed immigrant from Guinea. # © Frank Fournier / Contact Press Images
Manhattan, 1992: A policeman confronts a protester during a demonstration in response to the acquittal of the officers involved in the beating of Rodney King. # © Linda Rosier
Bronx, 1988: Tenants and supporters barricade themselves against eviction by New York City marshals on Cypress Avenue in the South Bronx. The tenants, mostly low-income New Yorkers and artists, took over an abandoned building, invested tens of thousands of dollars and several years of their labor, replacing the roof, boiler, and other building infrastructure. Despite this, the city sold the building to a developer who eventually evicted the families. # © Michael Kamber
Manhattan, 1988: A protestor with a bloodied head walks toward police officers during a riot in Tompkins Square Park. # © James Hamilton
Manhattan, 1992: Protesters take to the streets in response to the acquittal of the officers involved in the beating of Rodney King. Some Asian-owned groceries such as this one were vandalized. # © Linda Rosier
Manhattan, 1993: Two women kiss during the first Dyke March. The Lesbian Avengers began the annual tradition of marching down 5th Avenue from Bryant Park to Washington Square Park. # © Carolina Kroon
Manhattan, 1989: A protester is carried away during an ACT UP Stop the Church direct action at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. # © Brian Palmer
Manhattan, 1992: A woman holds up a clothes hanger in the shape of a crucifix at a pro-choice march. # © Sandra-Lee Phipps
Manhattan, 1991: Lower East Side residents hold hands around Tompkins Square Park to protest the city's forceful closure of the area. # © Q. Sakamaki
Manhattan, 1991: Protesters prepare to confront police on Avenue A. # © Q. Sakamaki
Manhattan, 1991: ACT UP demonstrators scale Grand Central Station's train timetable during their "Day of Desperation." ACT UP staged actions throughout the five boroughs of New York City in protest President George H.W. Bush's spending billions of dollars on the Gulf War while claiming there was no money for much-needed increases in AIDS programs. # © Dona Ann McAdams
Brooklyn, 1990: Bensonhurst residents hold up watermelons to mock African American protestors who took to the streets of the largely Italian neighborhood following the acquittal of Keith Mondello in the shooting death of 16-year-old African-American Yusef Hawkins. Hawkins, who had gone to the neighborhood to look at a used car, was met by a white mob and shot to death. # © Ricky Flores
Bronx, 1990: A woman carries an asthma ventilator in protest of the Bronx Lebanon Hospital's medical-waste incinerator. It was later closed. # © Edwin Pagán
Manhattan, 1991: Students sit on a parked car outside an occupied building on the City College campus during the CUNY student strike against proposed tuition hikes and budget cuts. # © Lisa Kahane
Brooklyn, 1987: Demonstrators take over the subway at what was then known as the Jay Street-Borough Hall station during a Day of Outrage demonstration. The demonstration followed the Howard Beach verdict on December 21, 1987, in which three defendants were found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Michael Griffith, who was beaten and chased by a white mob onto a highway where he was struck by a car. # © Ricky Flores
Queens, 1986: A woman drives her car, covered in protest signs, in Howard Beach. # © Sylvia Plachy
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/01/the-power-of-protest-photography/513500/
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário