Black Lives Matter: Documenting The New York Protests With Grant Legan
THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO
BRETT STANILAND
a challenge to the entire systems of injustice and oppression
Photographer Grant Legan on documenting the New York activists protesting for racial equality in light of recent events.
10 MINS READ TIME
Just a few weeks ago we found ourselves in the middle of some of the most unprecedented times we have witnessed. Yet, in the space of a couple days, we were in the midst of something harrowingly familiar.
The untimely death of George Floyd who was murdered at the hands of those sworn to protect, had a ripple effect across the entire world. A succession of racially stimulated events followed, and so did an enormous global reaction. Not only to these most recent events of police brutality and racist altercations, but also a challenge to the entire systems of injustice and oppression manufactured over countless years.
Over the next few days, petitions and funds were organized to help the families of those closest to the tragedies. The outpour of activism witnessed took many forms; educational tools to help the vast ignorance, donation pages, bail funds and demands for government reform. We finally saw brands and people, using their platform for a larger, more important purpose; organized protesting being one of them.
At this time, we saw the full power of social media being utilized. With black tiles of solidarity came overwhelming amounts of moving images from these protests. Captured were moments that used to miss us including calling for action against the injustice that, this time, had been seen by the entire world.
The protest has been the staple of driving change for centuries, the frontline of any movement. The most recent acts have been no different as the black community and allies were present displaying the whole spectrum of emotions.
As many activists took to the streets, we were lucky enough that the documentarians amongst them took their cameras to further emphasize the importance of the experience, like Grant Legan.
Originally from a small town in Illinois, Grant was raised in the Midwest by his white American father and Mexican mother. In high school and throughout college, he found a love of photography and has since developed an impressive repertoire of clients including some of the biggest names in fashion and the adjacent industries. Grant now resides in New York, working free-lance, on everything from editorials to commercial campaigns and portraiture.
I was able to share a conversation with Grant to get his perspective on the recent weeks and what it has been like to document the movement. Grant explained that he grew up “whitewashed” from his home life and throughout his education. His Mexican aunties were all married to white men, his teachers were all white, and so were his friends. Even the holidays as a child and the various schools, he was only ever surrounded by white people and often found himself in a difficult environment for being the only non-white kid.
As he recalls, at the time this wasn’t something he was even aware of. He assumed it was his personality - being too “flamboyant” and “acting gay”, nothing to do with his race. Only now looking back he realizes it was more than his persona.
We discussed how “whiteness” formed part of his early conditioning about what acceptance and success looked like. He recalls ‘racial inequality’ wasn’t something he was particularly aware of at the time. It wasn’t until he attended college in Iowa and received the opportunity to study abroad in Australia for a year, that he first started to experience some aspects of diversity.
It wasn’t until he moved to Los Angeles after college and working for a while in Chicago, that he felt free and accepted to be who he really was. He finally felt comfortable to come out. Still, there were times where he would be reminded of the reality that he still wasn’t fully accepted everywhere; trips to Israel, he recalls were particularly eye-opening, despite being one of the most developed places, in terms of LGBTQ+ rights, in the Middle East.
He explained that the feelings he had as a child resurfaced these recent weeks and this reminded him of when President Trump took office. The progressive bubble you live in with your diverse friends, open minds and liberal feelings are suddenly brought back down to earth. The world you think you live in is not as far extended as you think it is.
BS: What were your feelings when you first heard the news of George Floyd?
GL: I was home in New York and it was shocking. I got the story through a group chat and there was immediate anger and sadness. As the days progressed there was really a reflection on my life and being different and what seems to run the United States, which is the white man. I have always understood the struggle and hardships that a woman goes through compared to men, being surrounded by women all my life, I can see that my life is different because I was a man. It made me sad and upset to reflect and think that, are we still in the 60’s? As if we exist in this bubble… It made me think of the election watching the polls be announced and the states turning colours according to who had taken them, and thinking me and my circles are all in this bubble that is entirely different to how the rest of the country is, unbeknown to us!
So I had that similar feeling but even more severe, and more sadness. I am a big believer in love and existing as my best self when surrounded by other people who love me and love themselves. And I can’t believe there were still so many unhappy people in this world and in this country. It sparked lots of conversations with friends and family. I felt really trapped and hopeless, especially with the pandemic and not being able to interact with people and feed off their energy. It kind of made me realize that we don’t actually all share the same views and understanding of the world.
BS: What made you want to go and document the protests?
GL: Regardless of anything, firstly I had to go and support. I had been inside a while and I had already had Coronavirus, so before the protests I had been tested again and found that I had antibodies, so I was more assured about my health. So I really wanted to go and be a part and experience the energy that exists in New York, even during the pandemic you can still feel the energy of the city. I thought it was important for me to go and be part of this revolution, and learn, and the first step was going. I took my little camera with me the first time, and then the next one I went to I took my bigger camera, and then after I made a sign, and I went every day for over a week with my boyfriend. The more we went the more we felt comfortable being there, it was peaceful and calm and educational. But I would get calls from my family saying it’s really violent and we need to be careful, and you have to explain the role of the media to them and what they have been shown. It also really spurred the conversation for all these other topics, as some family members were spreading some very “republican” content on Facebook, we had to have some more emotional conversations with my close family, more so than I had ever had in my life. My dad even asked if I had ever felt different being brown! When I said yes, he said he had never known, he just thought everyone had always liked me, not knowing that it was because I had adapted myself to fit my surroundings so that I would fit in and be able to make friends.
BS: Have you experienced anything similar to this before?
GL: No, not really. The only other protest I’ve been to was the women’s march in LA. It was really significant in the way it made me see the past, and what others have had to go through. But I haven’t lived through anything this substantial before which is why I felt it was important to be a part of.
BS: What have been your experiences and feelings whilst being out taking photographs?
GL: I was excited about everyone’s emotional investment, and I really loved seeing the signage. Documentary photography isn’t something that is my favorite style to shoot because I prefer to have control over the experience and interaction. Here there’s no control, I’m just an observer with visual overload. It was remarkable to see so much passion and anger, coming from a place of disappointment but also love for other people. When I went to Stonewall, there was every different type of person there. I remember last year I was there for the anniversary of the riots and I remember crying because of all the energy of people celebrating something that hadn’t been so easy previously - to just exist as a gay person. And now with this, I was back there and it felt very emotional, because of the connection with the Stonewall riot and protest for basic human rights. It certainly felt like we were living in the past again.
BS: When you look at the photos, how do your pictures make you feel?
GL: Part of a photographer’s job is to portray the truth of what they see. It feels like a memory box that will remind me of how important this time was. I think it’s a remarkable thing that everyone has the ability to show other people what their eyes see, day to day. The images I have taken have already helped spark conversation with family members, where I have sent them and said this is what I have witnessed and how it made me feel at the time, so we can share these moments with each other.
BS: Which moments particularly stood out to you, or which images were you keen to capture?
GL: I really liked the moments I saw in Washington square park. There were protests all over the city and at one point we were at a really peaceful protest just sitting and listening and appreciating the silence. Another giant crowd of protestors met with us there, and they were making lots of noise as they came into the same place we were in. Watching the crowds come together from all different parts of the city was really powerful. Seeing the signs and phrases that people thought would be the most important message to market their mind in that moment I thought was really interesting and moving. Seeing people with tears in their eyes, the anger and sadness and hurt, these feelings flowed through me. It made me feel emotional, like the moments before you cry and you get this build up inside.
BS: How do you see your photography fitting into the landscape of activism?
GL: I think I’m always going to want to go and be part of something beneficial to our society. Even from a personal standpoint, if the images I take are just for me, and my close circle, not necessarily take the best images for everyone else. For me to share with myself in the future and for me to show my family and friends to start those conversations and learn and educate. It’s important from an individual point of view to take the pictures for me.
BS: Where do you see the movement going – capturing specific moments along the way
GL: I’m going to continue to go whenever I can and especially have these deep conversations with people. I appreciate the emotional vulnerability and the depth of the human mind so I hope that this continues, even if it’s just in my own practice. I hope that we start to ask people more deep questions rather than the base-level small talk interaction we have had that’s quite superficial.
Moving forward I hope these conversations become more emotional, and help people become more comfortable to have this. Being part of these movements is very important, but there’s still so many other important aspects where the work can be done. Whether it’s through editorial platforms or brands, how we can make this part of the conversation internally and externally to cover all aspects of what we do. We can make it the heart of what is being lived in for every project, conversation and relationship. These things are worthy of more depth, and so that’s where I hope we move towards in the future