WE STAND WITH TRAYVON MARTIN

This photo book is a first-hand pictorial account of my presence and participation, at the Justice for Trayvon Martin protest which took place on the July 16th 2013 outside the U.S embassy. This historical photo document is about ensuring that the UK participation in the Justice for Trayvon demonstration is recorded and archived in accessible libraries as opposed to commercial or private archives.

The book is broken into three sections:

 

1.   Section One: Perspectives on The Death Trayvon Martin and Racism

2.   Section Two Visual Activism and Iconic Protest Images

3.   Section Three Race and Policing in the UK

 

The majority of the images were taken with a basic digital camera and a cell phone. The images are not watermarked, neither do they come with captions. While I was reluctant to exclude images-based on quality alone, I adopted the view that this photobook should include images which express a wide range of emotions regardless of quality or imperfections.

This photobook focuses on how interpreting black protestors' political dress practices can change the experience of viewing and ultimately understanding the black body's role in civil rights protests. The role of feeling within photographic theory and practice is fundamental with regards to the experience of viewing photographs of suffering because it calls on the viewer to assume the role of secondary witness, or rather a witness who was not present at the moment of incident develops an emotional identification. The visual experience is never purely visual, but rather engages with other senses that enhance how we see.

In conclusion, this book acknowledges that participants in anti-racism and anti-police brutality demonstrations, recognize the power of political dressing and photography, as it offers them a greater sense of control over their own public appearance and narrative, through political signage, which acts as a form of institutional critique, which is difficult to revise by detractors and historical revisionists with a right-wing agenda, hence the effectiveness of photography in terms recording a narrative that many would like to dismiss or erase.