What I have here is a gallery of the solidarity protest that was held on November 25, 2018. The protest took place early that hot November morning, peacefully demonstrating on the American side of the San Ysidro border. The protest began in Larsen Field, right across the street from the Outlet of the Americas and marched to the pedestrian border crossing. There were many different groups in attendance including Pueblas Sin Fronteras, Border Angels, the American Indian Movement (AIM) to name a few. 

That day was a very intense day for me; not because of the protest, but because of everything that had happened within a few hours time. As I was leaving the area, I had a few hic-ups that delayed my departure back home (I had to be in downtown Oceanside at 4 p.m. for a shift)–I noticed I was dangerously low on gas and tried to use my backup gallon in the back of the Jeep and I broke the plastic spout trying to get it to work–eventually a nice Spanish-speaking couple helped me. 

Once I was on the the road and headed back up north through Dairy Cart Road–I noticed Border Patrol agents speeding between  traffic headed toward the border.  While on the bridge that connects to the 5 North I saw that the south-bound highway leading to the border was completely empty. Not a car in sight. 

I was going north right as the Border Patrol had closed the border because of the migrants breaking through and rushing to the American side. That was the craziest part; during the protest there was an energy of peace and strength–the frantic energy that I experienced later was not apart of the demonstration. 

This was my first time independently covering a protest, and I tried to prepare as best as possible, but I have a few thoughts and lessons that I learned 

What I did right

1. First, I did my research. 

I looked up different articles about protest photography and read them for tips and tricks. At the same time I absorbed as much information as I could while looking at the photography that the articles were featuring and made note of how they looked. 

https://petapixel.com/2016/05/03/protest-photography-tips-capture-action-stay-safe/

2. Charged my batteries and prepared my gear. 

I have several backup batteries for both my fujifilm x100t and my nikon d750. I cleaned the lens’s, blew out dust from the sensor and cleared all of my memory cards. I only used prime lenses (35mm and 85mm respectively) because, let’s be honest, I can’t afford those fancy zoom lenses yet. 

3. Researched travel time, cost of gas, places to park– the night before. 

I knew where I could park, close to the protest, but with a form of escape in case of a road closure or other activity. I am not a morning person so it is really hard for me to wake up in a speedy manner; I was running late as the protest started at 9, and I got there around 9:30. Luckily there wasn’t much happening that early and I didn’t miss much. Because of my tardiness I didn’t fill up my tank of gas right away when I should’ve–if I had to leave the area quickly I would have been in a lot of trouble. 

4. Wasn’t afraid to get in people’s faces for photographs. 

This part is hard for me. I am a shy person by nature, if I could have it my way I would have no one in my photographs ever. I don’t always like photographs without people and I know that pushing yourself and your boundaries are the only way to grow and get better. I found that of the photographs that I am the most proud of were the ones with people in them. 

5. Recorded names and gentle background for captioning. 

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try and farm out these photographs to news services and publications but I got most of names of the people I photographed. I should’ve gone into detail more, but that is for the improvements list. 

6. Created connections with the participants 

I interacted with the protesters and exchanged contact information with a few organizations. I need to follow up with them and maintain the connection. 

Improvements

1. Full tank of gas

I woke up late and wanted to get down there as soon as possible. Unfortunately my Jeep Wrangler has the all-terrain tires on that makes my gas mileage 12 miles a gallon and I pushed the empty tank light as close as I was comfortable with. It meant I had to wrestle with a plastic gas tank I was unfamiliar with, poorly made and easily broke. If I had another assignment or a tighter deadline I would’ve been in trouble. 

2. Made a stronger connection with a few people, to really tell their story. 

I walked into the protest with no idea what to expect and I told myself I would be simply documenting–a getting your feet wet if you will. I want to become stronger with my storytelling and seperate myself from the daily’s – a accurate portrait would be ideal. 

3. Push past my feeling of uncomfortably. 

Sometimes when I have the camera I sense this innate hostility–maybe I am projecting (I hate photographs of myself) but I always feel timid shoving my camera in peoples faces. I have to admit I photographed people’s faces at the limit of my comfort. Next time, I strive to push past that. 

4. Shoot some video.

It’s the future, man. I’ve noticed that video is in demand from photographers and there are ways to get your clips out on social media and paid by news outlets quickly, if you post and spread it within the appropriate news-cycle. 

As for everything else; all I can say is that I learned a lot. I know I have a million ways to improve and I am not even going to pretend like I know enough about this subject to declare mastery–I’m just learning and trying to figure it out the best way possible just like everyone else.