Occupying Wall Street, January 24, 2012
born 1962
Accra Shepp
American
“Occupying Wall Street, January 24 2012”
Three unidentified young men. These men did not want me to share their identities because they feared harassment and retribution from the police. My images were indeed letting people beyond the protest know what was happening, but this also included the police, specifically TARU, the NYPD unit tasked with surveillance and collecting intelligence.
The fears of these young men, unfortunately, were legitimate. It was a sad fact that many of the men of color that I asked to be subjects in my photographs declined for similar reasons. I was very grateful that they participated. Literally the second after making the second exposure, the three ran away to rejoin the protest.
Gelatin silver print