Peace and Planet - Demonstration in NYC

On April 26th, 2015 thousands of people rallied and marched in New York City to demand an end to nuclear weapons. This marked the beginning of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference at the United Nations. Activists from all over the world, particularly the US and Japan took part in the march to demand that their leaders take a firm stance against nuclear weapons. The following were photographs that I took over the course of the day.

The above photo was actually one I took with my cell phone camera. This helped me get the wider angle since I don't yet have a wide angle lens. On stage Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower and man who leaked the Pentagon Papers, spoke about how nuclear weapons are still a threat to humanity.

Many mothers were in attendance speaking out in the name of their children. The Japanese attendees wore wonderful colorful robes like these women were wearing. 

There is a Japanese tradition that if you have a wish, you make one thousand paper cranes and that wish will come true. Thousands upon thousands of paper cranes were handed out at the rally before the march began. I had never seen so many paper cranes in all my life. The cranes were in all sorts of colors, shapes and sizes. 

The crowd waved symbolically to "Wave Goodbye to Nuclear Weapons". This sparked a wave across the world. Over the next 24 hours, groups of people waved goodbye to nuclear weapons in the different time zones when it reached 1pm. 

 I met this student from Hiroshima University. The students there were getting petition signatures to eliminate nuclear weaons. Hiroshima was the first city where the atomic bomb was dropped on a civilian population 70 years ago. The dangers of nuclear weapons continue to be painfully obvious there as bomb dropped there is still have effects on the population.

The march began and marchers handed out paper cranes to children they passed on the route. 

This child enjoyed his paper crane chain while his dad talked to a man from Japan about nuclear weapons.

A woman watches the march go by from inside a coffee shop.

I spent much of the weekend in New York with Sylvia. She is an artist and has been a peace activist for many decades. She was excited to see such energy to eliminate nuclear weapons. The last time she took part in a large march against nuclear weapons was in 1982 when one million people marched in NYC while the Cold War was still escalating.

 Here you can see the length of the march. Approximately 7,000 people marched against nukes.

Following the march there was a Peace Festival. These dancers from Japan called for "No more Hiroshimas, No More Nagasakis, No More Fukushimas".

Singers and others also performed at the Peace Festival. It was a fun and relaxing way to end the day on a hopeful note. 

People's Climate March in NYC

This past weekend I went to the People's Climate March in NYC. There was over a quarter million people in attendance at the march and it was a great celebration as well as a call to action on climate justice. I spent much of the day taking photographs while also being a participant in the march.

I greatly enjoyed taking these photographs and am also fairly pleased with how they came out. I took these photos with a Canon Rebel Xti and 28-55mm lens which I borrowed from the photo department.

In this photograph I was trying to capture the number of people in the length of the march. I liked the variety in different kinds of people and different things going on. I liked how the "One way" sign points in the direction that the marchers are going suggesting that there is only one option to tackle climate change. The woman on the left side of the photograph was a challenge for me. I first attempted to crop her out of the photograph but there was no easy way to do it without crowding the street signs or cropping out the photographer man next to her. In the end I decided to leave her as a part of the photo because I felt she added to the different people, actions and moods of everyone in the photograph. I spent quite some time burning, dodging and desaturating certain parts of the image to emphasize and highlight particular parts.

 I liked this photograph because of the red, white and blue elements. During the march I was considering the idea of democracy and patriotism. For example isn't it patriotic to take part in democracy through peaceful demonstrations. I think that was why this woman really stuck out in the crowd for me because of her red and white striped shirt and blue and white sign. I also like the man in the foreground wearing his People's Climate March Peacekeeper's shirt although I wished I had snapped the photo just a moment earlier so that he would have been a bit further to the right.

 While looking through my photos I first didn't think much of this particular one but in the end decided to put a bit of time into it. I like the times when people's voices are heard and people join their voices together in chants. I was a bit rushed when editing this photo and didn't spend a lot of time with it but I think it captures a moment in the march.