Photography: Selections from San Francisco

San Francisco No.1

Like a bad storyteller, I have placed the last scene first. This is the scene at the end of the George Floyd protests in San Francisco, after the last of the protesters had been cleared out from the front of City Hall.

San Francisco No.2

The second to last scene is also second here. Behind me were people leaving the city center square. Shortly after this, a curfew was announced over loudspeakers, and the people making their way about were stopped multiple times as I returned to my apartment overlooking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

San Francisco No.3

Market Street. A substantial police presence preceded the actual protest procession.

San Francisco No.4

This is the same officer as before. He just kind of stopped there for a bit, almost as if he was posing for this shot.

San Francisco No.5

The protest made its way to my section of Market street, both police and protestors nearly comingling.

San Francisco No.6

A protestor walks down the center of the street, water-bottle in hand.

San Francisco No.7

Graffiti during the protest was sparse for whatever reason. Which is a strange statement given the overall density of graffiti in San Francisco.

San Francisco No.8

In contrast to some protests I have witnessed, the signs here were occasionally dotted with concrete and substantive policy demands. Sometimes those policy demands are obscured by framing.

San Francisco No.9

Zip ties have always seemed to me inadequate as law enforcement tools. One of the easiest things to undo with a small hard object is a zip tie, by lodging the object into the zip tie as to prevent the teeth of the zip tie from latching onto the appropriate spot.

San Francisco No.10

The upraised fist was the symbol of the moment.

San Francisco No.11

When I saw these folks entering the square, I realized they were going to rush infront of the crowd and close off the exits to push the protest out into a coherent direction opposite City Hall. That is what ended up occuring. The one photographer near me who had actual credentials seemed to notice this as well, and briskly jogged off to the area opposite the square.

San Francisco No.12

Strangely enough, there were very few reporters about from the Chronicle, and the shots I saw in the paper in the days following were of an altogether diffrent character than those you see here.

San Francisco No.13

The protestor here was an interesting sort with a slight chicano accent. His way of speaking indicated to me he was a bay area native. He spent the entire time shaming each officer individually for their roles in that context and in general. He struck a nerve with at least one officer, the one holding his neckline, and made him tear up enough that he was replaced by another officer. He told him that he must know, deep inside, that he had enabled the abuses being protested.

San Francisco No.14

The line of officers guarding the street, a little after the protest began dispersing.

San Francisco No.15

The initial rush.

San Francisco No.16

As the police ran around me and briefly surrounded me, the thought occurred to me that the number of police was of a substantially greater than the number of remaining protestors.

San Francisco No.17

Each officer appeared to have a designated area that they ran off to. They began to structure their positions in a manner that reminded me of myself, shuffling onto a marker in a school play.

San Francisco No.18

One of the few arrests is visible here. As there were scarcely any people left, I wondered who this formation was for. Perhaps me and the person you see on the right in the foreground.