We Still Choose Love

Olympus OMD E-M1 paired with the Nocticron DG 42.5mm f/1.2, shot wide open at ISO 1600 for 1/125" exposure.

I would like to say I have a more formed and elaborately thought out post recounting the experiences of the last 7 days. I don't.

As simply as can be stated, over dinner with Rob, a protest made its way past our dinner table which we were both eager to join and document. And like prior experiences shadowing the Black Lives Matter protests marching through Baltimore some months ago, it went much the same, with great cooperation between police and organizers. Two individuals in the march were detained, but not charged. One antagonizer decrying the point of this march charged a protester with a knife, but was promptly subdued by police and charged in the attempted stabbing.

We spearheaded the march for 3 hours, leapfrogging it in spirited sprints to photograph the mass of people as it moved forward, then letting the body of the protest flow around us like water over a rock. The courtesy of the demonstration was amusing. In the thickness of the crowd, it was impossible not to step on someone's shoes or accidentally bump into a fellow marcher, but every accidental brush was met with a flurry of apologies for the transgression. Despite the native anger and frustration, everyone was keenly aware of everyone else, and careful to not stumble on courtesy in an otherwise discourteous event.

The march disbanded not long after we lost the stamina to continue following it. It was both a necessary outlet and reaffirmation that a very real body of our fellow human beings existed wholly invested in defending minorities such as ourselves, for immigrants, for blacks, every single queer identifying person under the umbrella. Necessary after the political affirmation of a platform built at least in part on the pandering of a body politic squarely against the civil rights of minority groups. And with the multitudinous numbers of us whose families ethically abandoned our safety, security, and citizenship in the United States, many of us needed the affirmation that an alternative family structure existed in the social fabric to support us in our orphaned state.

It's been a very complex 7 days. I don't suspect we will collectively parse our emotions any time soon.

Olympus OMD E-M1 paired with the Nocticron DG 42.5mm f/1.2, ISO 4000 and 1/125" exposure.
I envy the stubborn strength she wears on her face.