Protest Photography, Women's March and participating in both

My mom asked me a few months ago if I wanted to go to Washington DC for the inauguration of the first female president. Of course I wanted to go. I was nervous though about buying my ticket and then having the worst happen, having a male elected to office. My husband made the decision for me, we flat out couldn’t afford for me to go. He gets a little jealous of my solo jet setting for weddings anyway. A few weeks later, the results were in and we had a new male president.

 

My mom plunged into a depression. A lot of people did. But then a few wonderful things started to happen and get organized. There was the womens march being planned for the day after the inauguration. Pantsuit nation was born. The Pussyhat project was started and people globally started acting. My mom came to visit me and we went shopping at our local thrift store. She found this pantsuit and wondered if she should buy it. I vehemently told her no and asked her why on earth she would buy that. My mom is not a pantsuit kind of gal. She informed me of pantsuit nation and this fog started to lift from her. She was getting excited, she was getting motivated and she was getting involved. She bought that suit and she showed everyone her suit. She took it to DC where she made a sign and she marched with all those wonderful people. I wish so badly I could have been there. I am not a protest photographer. As a matter of fact I get uncomfortable photographing people who are protesting. However, I really wanted to be there and document those faces and their signs. Instead, I made a pink kitty hat, made a couple signs, got my “real” camera and went to Langley and marched. Out of a population of 1100 people, we had 1300 people come and protest. It was beautiful and I was able to capture a few images of people and their signs. For those people who let me photograph them I sincerely thank them. I love looking at their faces, seeing their signs and feeling this complete camaraderie with them. I was actually photographed a few times because people thought my sign was beautiful. I feel that at this protest compared to other protests I’ve participated in I did it right. My heart is full and my passion has been ignited.