A selection of twenty-three of the portraits from Occupy Wall Street can be found on my portfolio Web site.
View all the portraits starting with this Flickr slideshow.
A selection of twenty-three of the portraits from Occupy Wall Street can be found on my portfolio Web site.
View all the portraits starting with this Flickr slideshow.
I can’t imagine why some of these people don’t have a job (insert huge eye roll). Maybe they’re waiting for the circus to come to town to get hired into one of the side shows. The photos I like are the ones of the anti capitalists on their i phones, tapping away at their computers and riding $2000.00 bikes to the protest. Their theme song should be Todd Rundgren’s “Bang the Drum All Day”. I don’t want to work, i just want to bang on the drum all day.
I wonder if they’ll clean up their mess when they get bored and leave? I doubt it, it’ll be someone with a JOB that has to clean up their crap, urine, trash and filth.
One never knows where life will take us.
The expressions in the eyes of these people makes me wonder what their life stories are.
Thank you, Joe for this wonderful series!
We just got back from a summer in Maine and one of the first things I wanted to do was go down and see what was going on with OWS. I haven’t check in on your page for a couple of weeks. I hadn’t thought about it but now having seen your photos of it is obvious in hindsight that you would be covering it. You may be documenting an historical moment. It’s nice to know that it has such a worthy documentarian.As far as Eric’s comment- I am so tired of those who make the same blanket, dismissive comments. I think your photos show a very diverse assortment of people, which is what struck me when I went down there. The other thing thast struck me was how earnest the overall attitude was. Sure there are some questionable types there – aren’t there always going to be in such a situation? But the majority struck me as people who are hoping to have an effect and change what has become a broken system. I’ll take them over Eric’s cynicism and negativity any day. And if you would actually pay attention what they are saying is that Wall Street needs to be held accountable for it’s corrupt practices, the rich should pay their fair share and politicans should be accountable to people first and not corporations. I find those objectives to be reasonable. Oh and incidentally the protesters have been cleaning up not only the site but the bathrooms of neighboring businesses who have offered them their facilities.
I have to agree with Kevin on both his points. That Joe is the perfect vessel to document this fascinating up swell of American frustration and that the protesters goals seem reasonable. And I must admit, I was partially in Eric’s camp when all this began. Initially, OWS reminded me of the children of privilege who attended the recent anti-globalization protests in various cities over the last few years who seemed more interested in breaking windows than real change. But these protesters have impressed me with their dedication and commitment. That they are still there a month later makes me question my original knee-jerk characterization of them.
Regardless, I think these photos are really fantastic. Something I have come to expect from Joe over the many, many years I have been visiting this site. And I am truly glad he is documenting what I hope will be the beginning of real change. A germ of a beginning, perhaps. But a beginning.
Gotta back up Kevin here.
All sorts of people are turning up for these protests. I thank the students and the retired people for showing up on my behalf. They’re the ones who are best able to put in the time. But several labor unions have also sent contingents, and plenty of parents and other hard-working people are showing up on weekends. Large corporations now control both major parties with the power of their money. It is impossible to pass any legislation that doesn’t directly benefit the corporations and their shareholders. I’m very glad that people are finally speaking out about it, and I’m glad they’ve dug in exactly where they are.
If there’s one thing I cannot stand it’s judging some young person based on his or her appearance. Doing so only proves that you’re miserable and mean-spirited.
And, this photo is great and this particular young man has a very kind face.