Timeout in Seattle?
As it has for the past eight decades, Time magazine selected its person of the year on Wednesday morning. The distinction goes to the man or woman (or sometimes group or idea) the magazine’s editors believe had the greatest impact during the past twelve months, for good or for ill. In 2011, they chose: "The Protester."
Over the past year, “the protester” has voiced dissent against authoritarian leaders, first in Tunisia, and then in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. The protester in Spain and in Greece struggled - and still do - with a floundering economy that, if anything, is likely to get worse in 2012 . The protester have also started to now voice anger over possibly rigged elections in Russia, and it will be interesting to see how Putin deals with it all should the crowds really turn up en masse, just as they did 20 years ago to orchestrate the downfall of the Soviet system there.
Here in the U.S., the Occupy Wall Street protester began demonstrating first in New York, and then in Washington, Chicago, and even here in Seattle which, from time to time, took on a more comical element to their protest. It all started off so enthusiastically on Westlake Park - so much so you I even felt pangs of genuine kinredship with the protesters, and that they could become a united force for much-needed change.
But things started to go wrong, as they had no single, cohesive message they could all unite and agree on. The "moment" soon became lost in a huge smorgasbord of everything everybody was against - and the worst point came was when you saw them all grouped into different caucuses, with no one group talking to the other, and I had to laugh at it all as it reminded of that classic bit in The Life of Brian: "Excuse me. Are you the Judean People's Front? "Fuck off! We're the People's Front of Judea."
Then the Occupy Seattle group lost the plot completely when they all actually voted to move from their very public protest vantage point in Westlake Park to the Seattle Central Community College on Broadway, Capital Hill. I was by this time getting into the Holiday spirit of things, and suggested to one of the protesters that their actions were a little like turkeys voting for an early Thanksgiving!
And last weekend, they were eventually evicted from the SCCC. So, since I was there at the start in Westlake Park, I opted to be there in spirit with them to record it for posterity, as they cleared up their tents and trash to move no-one knows where, as apparently their central committee have yet to take a vote on it.
Leica M6 & 50mm Summicron
Kodak Portra 400 (new)
(editing in ColorEfex4)
Timeout in Seattle?
As it has for the past eight decades, Time magazine selected its person of the year on Wednesday morning. The distinction goes to the man or woman (or sometimes group or idea) the magazine’s editors believe had the greatest impact during the past twelve months, for good or for ill. In 2011, they chose: "The Protester."
Over the past year, “the protester” has voiced dissent against authoritarian leaders, first in Tunisia, and then in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain. The protester in Spain and in Greece struggled - and still do - with a floundering economy that, if anything, is likely to get worse in 2012 . The protester have also started to now voice anger over possibly rigged elections in Russia, and it will be interesting to see how Putin deals with it all should the crowds really turn up en masse, just as they did 20 years ago to orchestrate the downfall of the Soviet system there.
Here in the U.S., the Occupy Wall Street protester began demonstrating first in New York, and then in Washington, Chicago, and even here in Seattle which, from time to time, took on a more comical element to their protest. It all started off so enthusiastically on Westlake Park - so much so you I even felt pangs of genuine kinredship with the protesters, and that they could become a united force for much-needed change.
But things started to go wrong, as they had no single, cohesive message they could all unite and agree on. The "moment" soon became lost in a huge smorgasbord of everything everybody was against - and the worst point came was when you saw them all grouped into different caucuses, with no one group talking to the other, and I had to laugh at it all as it reminded of that classic bit in The Life of Brian: "Excuse me. Are you the Judean People's Front? "Fuck off! We're the People's Front of Judea."
Then the Occupy Seattle group lost the plot completely when they all actually voted to move from their very public protest vantage point in Westlake Park to the Seattle Central Community College on Broadway, Capital Hill. I was by this time getting into the Holiday spirit of things, and suggested to one of the protesters that their actions were a little like turkeys voting for an early Thanksgiving!
And last weekend, they were eventually evicted from the SCCC. So, since I was there at the start in Westlake Park, I opted to be there in spirit with them to record it for posterity, as they cleared up their tents and trash to move no-one knows where, as apparently their central committee have yet to take a vote on it.
Leica M6 & 50mm Summicron
Kodak Portra 400 (new)
(editing in ColorEfex4)