Documenting Street Protests
Recently I've photographed quite a few protests in Newcastle, and I've been tying myself in knots over the ethical aspects. And the above, made at The Monument, is of a young man protesting against alleged organ harvesting perpetrated by the PRC against members of the followers of Falun Gong. The young man's silent protest was most impressive, and the background - a banner held up by a different group on the the south side of the steps - was a bit of a gift photographically.
So this one is an image and cause with which we (all us lily-livered liberals - or LLLs) can identify. But a quick read of the Wiki entry on the Falun Gong revealed quite a lot of beliefs and attitudes that we LLLs would find antithetical to our own world view.
So where does that leave this picture? Is it good, or bad? Honestly, I don't think it makes a difference, any more than my pictures of anti-immigration protests do. Photographers don't have to approve of anything they shoot, and it's up to the audience to draw their own conclusions - if they follow the caption to the above (Falun Gong Protestor, Newcastle Monument, 2025) they can enter as many internet rabbit holes as they want.
