Photographic meanderings

In 1979 I took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. While I have fulfilled that oath with the completion of my enlistment in the US Navy, I have felt a personal calling to step up and defend the constitution once again. With the injury of Scott Olsen during a violent crackdown by Oakland, CA police assisted by several other local Bay Area police forces, I am compelled to step up once again to protect and defend. This time I won’t have a paycheck. I won’t have health coverage. I won’t have a weapon.

I’ll have my camera.

I will be photographing #Occupy protests along the route to my winter job in Ellington, MO; I hope to visit small towns and big cities, photograph the Occupiers, their processes, living arrangements, and signs.

This is not an objective documentation by any stretch of the imagination–I am in support wholeheartedly of the Occupy movement.

Occupy Sacramento has a small core group of Occupiers. One man stood and spoke passionately about how he was sick of being told that he was doing everything wrong, that he’d lost his job, was losing his home, and had no insurance for his car. Another man, a member of the Veterans For Peace, stood up and said that he was proud of the group, that he’d demonstrated against the VietNam war, and that he’d brought some food in support of the #OccupySacto group. I spoke on learning to recognize the signs of burnout, making the effort to pace yourself, and also recommended some books on the subject of consensus building.

I noted that even some of the more disruptive homeless people were treated with dignity and respect. I was touched by the sincerity of the two young men who approached me after general meeting broke up and I headed toward my car. They thanked me, spoke to me of their goals, what they were hoping to accomplish.

View the set of 5 images here.

If you are from #Occupy Sacramento, you have permission to repost this to your blog. All others must contact me for license to use these images.