Post Your Local Occupy Wall Street Protest Photos Here

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Yeah! More great pics from others!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!! Seakayaker, Dog Star, and HelenHill!!! Beautiful work, all... partial to that great "Not Corporate Fascism" one, personally.

THANK YOU!!!
 
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Roger Hicks said:
But where are the cats and coffee cups? And the bokeh would have been better with a late 1959 5-bolt late-engraving Summicron...

Seriously, these pics are superb. The faces and the placards; the feeling and the mood... Brilliant!

Cheers,

R.
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Thanks, Roger. To shift things back to a photography-related topic... I did post these on a "philosophy of photography" thread, after all... I really think that technological advances have leveled the playing field. In 1959 that "5-bolt late-engraved Summicron" might have given you an edge, maybe. But today? In the era of computer-related design where some CA is fixed in the firmware with a few lines of code, cameras all using the same sensors from a few suppliers whatever differences that existed between the high end and the "working man's" cameras have narrowed further still. Sure, it's your money to spend but I really don't think you'll see much of a difference between a garden variety consumer DSLR and an M8 or even an M9... And, c'mon, I bought this 35/1.8 (which is really what sold me on the camera... IMO you should pick the main lens you want first, body second....) at around $200 new. Is an old 'cron (or even a new one) really gonna improve IQ enough to matter over a "relatively" cheap lens?

I appreciate your kind words.

N
 
And back to the photography side - I shot film and will try to develop tonight so I won't have pictures up for a day or two.
 
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Brian Legge said:
On the bus back from Occupy Seattle. I shot street-style for a bit - nothing as good as what's been posted in this thread already - and then did some more portrait-like work. After all of the demonization, comments about the protesters being hippies and so forth the diversity and general levelheadedness of the crowd was impressive. People were talking comfortably with the police who were out in force and generally relaxed. There were a lot of different messages in play and not everyone approved of them all but there was a strong sense of unity related to corporate responsibility and political influence.

It was actually the way the media has been covering this that made me decide to shoot portraits focused on the diversity. Went out with no specific opinion of the about the protest but am definitely more sympathetic now.
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Absolutely, Brian. It is stunning to witness the calm level-headedness and diversity of the crowd - not "hippies", not "socialists", but a very peaceful protest from all walks of life by citizens concerned about the future...
 
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I met some really interesting people downtown on Friday while photographing. I'll post some work once I process and scan over the next few days.
 
MODERATORS--

Is this forum about photographs, or politics?

Any chance of deleting ALL of the commentary not directly related to the posted images?
 
NickTrop said:
Absolutely, Brian. It is stunning to witness the calm level-headedness and diversity of the crowd - not "hippies", not "socialists", but a very peaceful protest from all walks of life by citizens concerned about the future... and how we're being vilified in the corporate media. First we were completely ignored, then vilified.
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The most interesting thing I noticed about your pics was that many of the protesters (mostly in Parts II, V and VI) seem emotionless, even bored (holding a sign and chatting on the iphone, the thousand-yard stares). Some look like people waiting around for a bus, only holding a sign that decries greed or points out the it's "real". I asked myself if their hearts are not really in it, or are they that demoralized or shell-shocked with the current conditions and their own situations?

For me, the really good ones are in Parts I, III, and IV where the protesters are into it! Like the "Turn this town upside down " Lady, the crowd around the "drywall bucket drummer", and the young guy with the gas mask. It does look "real" in these pictures and the people seem passionate about the protests.

Thanks for posting them, they were very interesting to see.
 
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JSU said:
MODERATORS--

Is this forum about photographs, or politics?

Any chance of deleting ALL of the commentary not directly related to the posted images?
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I think that comments on a point of view (e.g., look at the dumb sign this guy was holding) is inappropriate. While comments about the photos (e.g., nicely composed, etc.) are valid. As are comments about what it was like to be there, as a photojournalist (e.g., it was a warm afternoon, there were a few hundred people, this officer posed for a photo, this one would not, this rally attendant was yelling non-stop and here's the best photo I got of him/her, etc.) are also valid. Isn't RF history filled with photojournalists?

Sure you can argue all photos are propaganda, but lets not. Lets look at photos and photojournalism. I come here to escape the politics that are everywhere else.
 
The responses to the images are interesting to me. The protests themselves weren't generally high energy or angry, nor were they dominated by angry hood wearing youths or homeless/unemployed. They imagery that represents the event itself isn't the sort that makes a huge visual impact. The more inflammatory photos are less representative of the event.

I guess this is the first point where I've personally felt the difference reportage and street photography while shooting. Given the difference between what I was seeing and how the event has been reported, I felt a strong pull towards reportage. If feels like the responses are more oriented along the lines of street shooting - prefering more politically charged images.

I'm sure the veterans here view this as old hat - recording an event vs creating more impactful but less representative images - but it's new to me from the photographer standpoint. :)
 
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In this town the dogs show up to EVERYTHING.

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**** even buildings show up around here.

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Is it bad that I am gaining a fancy for Tri-X? It is so damn bad technically, and nearly worthless for some shots but... I kind of like as long as I can give it -10 brightness and +10 contrast in photoshop... (sometimes more or less but necessary anyway) I would modify the qualities even if I was just using an enlarger because it is a bit flat without it. I exposed everything at 320 instead of 400, and minor bracketing. Any thoughts? Could I get more contrast at a different exposure without blowing everything out or is it just hopeless till scan/enlargement?

All shot with either OM MIJ 50mm f1.8 or 200mm f4. Tri-X 400 film.
 
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Field said:
Is it bad that I am gaining a fancy for Tri-X? It is so damn bad technically, and nearly worthless for some shots but...
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what is so bad about it?

Could I get more contrast at a different exposure without blowing everything out or is it just hopeless till scan/enlargement?
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If you expose it at 400 you'll get more contrast out of it. Or develop hotter. But the old saying is: you can always add contrast to the print, but you can't take it away from the negative. I'm more bothered by how soft they are though, I'm guessing it has to do with the scanner.
 
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Kind of inevitable that politics would creep into the discussion, since Nick started a thread with photographs of a political protest. It would be truly weird if we only discussed Nick's excellent framing.

Nick, thanks for starting this thread. My negatives are rinsing at the moment. I don't think they will measure up to yours, but I will try to scan and post some tomorrow.

Randy
 
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