Black Lives Matter
(2020)
A raw photography documentation taken with a point-and-shoot camera found at a thrift store. The photographs capture the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest that took place in Tampere in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020. This series serves as an authentic, unfiltered portrayal of the protest, providing a powerful visual narrative of solidarity and resistance. A portion of this photography project was archived in 2020 by Museovirasto – Finnish Heritage Agency (Heritage Museum, Helsinki, Finland) through the BLM No Justice, No Peace Photo Book by Nathi Sihlophe (author and curator).
A little girl wondering around an angry mass of people. She is tiny and adorable, yet strong and serious. I liked her vigourosness. She was moving a lot and dancing and screaming. It caught my eye. I though to myself: 'A child like her should play and feel safe in her community. However, she was there, fighting for justice with eagerness.'
I asked her if I can photograph her. She immediately accepted, but asked for 10 seconds to prepare. She put her mask, chose her pose and looked directly at me. I liked her attitude: bold, strong and straight. You can almost feel her essence from the photograph.
The mother was taking a picture of the father and their boy. The boy was just mimicking the scream. I found the silent scream interesting so I decided to shoot that moment. The young boy's Angri Birds T-Shirt is also an important contributor to the whole story.
