Being Safe While Photographing American Protest
Most of the time, our articles address how to keep the environment, other photographers, or animals around us safe. This time, I’d like to focus on how to keep ourselves as photographers safe.
It’s especially important to emphasize that, as always, the opinions stated here are my own. No one should assume that others share my views. But I am going to touch on some of the realities that do upset others.
Trump’s first term saw a steep rise in protest activity within the United States. His second term seems to be resulting in the same.
Protests are undoubtedly exciting. And they offer ample opportunity to capture scenes of passion and excitement as people express their opinions. And they are a setting where people actually will want you to take their photograph. Protestors often see being photographed as a way to help spread their message, so they are glad to have you take their photos.
An activists’s passion is on full display in this image taken at the Supreme Court of the United States shortly after the overruling of the right to an abortion.
But protests are also hazardous environments. Things can get out of control. So here are some of the things I have done to keep safe when photographing protests.
Think twice before going to photograph a protest. I understand that photography is a popular hobby. But if the protest is not important and we do not have the skills to take photos that contribute to public dialogue while keeping ourselves safe, why go? It might be safest to stay home. I thought about photographic protests after the death of George Floyd. But I stayed home.
Understand the threats. If you’re going to a protest, you need to know what dangers exist. That way you can be wary of real dangers instead of being distracted by imagined threats. Distractions make you more vulnerable.
A good example of this occurred during the protests after the death of George Floyd. In the United States, studies have consistently shown that violence from conservatives is more common and more deadly than violence from the left or the middle. Knowing this, it is unsurprising that the overwhelming majority of violence at these protests came from right-leaning groups including the Proud Boys, Oathkeepers, or even the police themselves. Those expecting danger from overwhelmingly peaceful Black Lives Matter organizers would have been ignoring the real danger. Don’t make that mistake now. Learn what the dangers are and prepare for them.
Obey police instructions. Police instructions can be important to keeping you safe. If there is violence heading in your direction, they will want to move you out of the way. Likewise, if they are about to take enforcement action against an unlawful assembly, they will (hopefully) move you out of the way first. In these situations, things move fast, so there isn’t time to discuss it. If they tell you to move, just move. This happened to me at an abortion-related march in Washington, D.C. The police told me to move on. I did. I setup and took additional photos somewhere else. There was no shortage of opportunities.
Be discreet about your own views. People will want to talk with you. That’s fine. But it’s not the place to get into arguments. I’ve photographed anti-vaccine protests. I recognize and accept the reality that vaccines have mitigated and even eliminating illnesses ranging from COVID-19 and the flu to polio and measles. But I don’t get into arguments with anti-vax protestors because that is how violent incidents can begin. If they ask me about my views, I just tell them I am neutral and I photograph protests on both sides.
Be aware of what’s happening around you. If you are seeing people carrying gas masks or wearing clothing identified with violent groups, that is a sign of potential trouble. If you see that happening, be somewhere else.
Have multiple ways of leaving an area. Sometimes bad things happen without a lot of warning. And sometimes one way to leave is cut off. Having multiple ways of getting out means that you can always leave a bad situation. A good way to accomplish this is by staying at the edges of a crowd rather than walking into the middle of them.
This image, taken at the Defeat The Mandates March in Washington, D.C., is technically flawed. But it is among my most successful at provoking an emotional reaction. Jewish viewers, in particular, have been rightly offended by vaccines being compared to the holocaust.
Photographers have always played an important role in protests. Photography documents what happened. And photographs of protests have become immortal.
Document what’s happening at protests in America today. If I still lived in the U.S., that’s what I’d be doing now. But do it safely. Make sure you come home uninjured so you can do it again.
Be safe out there.