In light of the Occupy Wall St. Movement and its
nationwide expansion, I realized that I don’t recall a movement such as this in
my lifetime. Sure, there have been anti-war protesters, but when aren’t there
protesters during war-time? This feels different. There are so many people
coming together from so many varied backgrounds and they all have different
ideas and somehow it’s all funneling down into one unified voice speaking out.
As I am interested in
photojournalism and street photography (and seeing as how I’ve never taken
photos of a protest) I decided to grab my trusty 500 DTL and check out my local Occupy group.
I’d heard of Occupy St.
Louis at work from a co-worker who is an involved activist with the group. It
sounded amazing and every day I was unable to go down to Kiener Plaza
I work a 9 to 5 and decided
to go on a Saturday on the way to get groceries.
Perhaps I got ahead of
myself. Some may not know what this Occupy movement is all about. Long and
short: The group is against corrupt corporation and banking practices. This
summation isn’t precise, I’ll admit, but here are a few links for further
education:
It was early Saturday and
the group looked to still be in the shadows of trees holding their morning
general assembly. Since I shoot film, I decided to go down to the riverfront
under the arch and do some of my usual photography. After about an hour of snapping
street shots I headed back up and there were some people holding signs along 
Members of the group come from all walks of life. In my brief period there I got to meet Janelle.
Janelle is from the area and she and her children
have visited the plaza for the last two weekends. They were camping out again
this weekend. She discussed with me the importance of the movement between
cheers at honking passers by (honking in solidarity to one of the signs another
person was holding) and felt that a change needed to be made to the current
system.
Standing there on the median, alone with her daughter,
holding a sign that says unity; she appeared, to me at least, as a welcoming
figure like a grand statue welcoming you to the plaza. Her sign, a warm beacon
of equality assuring you that you belonged.
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