Island resident and attorney Jamie Fishman combines both his lifelong passions in his new documentary photography book titled American Protest — Images from the Streets.
The book is made up of black and white photographs taken by Mr. Fishman at various protests around the country that took place from 1986 to 2024. Scenes depicted include anti-apartheid protests, ACT UP AIDS demonstrations, police brutality protests, women’s marches, March For Our Lives and protests on the Vineyard against domestic violence.
Mr. Fishman decided to compile the images in a book after going through his old film rolls and seeing pictures he didn’t remember shooting.
“I had been wanting to do a book for a long time and I hadn’t focused on what the book would be and what it would be about, but then when I started to see all these images, it came to me that these should be in a book,” he said. “There’s so much there that . . . younger generations know very little about and need to see.”
Mr. Fishman went to his first protest when he was 11 years old. He said that experience shaped his view of protests as both a participant and observer.
“For me, when I was a teenager, it was the Vietnam War,” he said. “I was at the mass protest in Washington in 1969 when I was 15 with hundreds and hundreds of people. I got tear gassed and it was a real eye-opening experience for me. I didn’t have a camera. I wish I had.”
While going to law school in New York City the 1980s, he picked up photography, with a particular interest to street photography. His location naturally allowed for dynamic scenes.
“With everything around in New York City, it’s an explosion of visual images that happen all over you,” he said. “So I started carrying a camera with me everywhere.”
When Mr. Fishman goes to a protest with his camera, he looks for striking images that will be visually interesting.
“Sometimes it’s the expression on somebody’s face, sometimes it’s the sign they’re holding,” he said. “Sometimes it’s the immediate vicinity of what’s in front of them and what’s behind them for juxtaposition.”
The choice to present all the pictures in black and white was mostly for consistency, and to present a more dramatic focal point.
Mr. Fishman’s favorite image in the book is one taken at an ACT-UP demonstration in 1989 in front of city hall in New York. The picture focuses on protesters holding each other’s hands and displaying fists of solidarity.
“You can’t tell necessarily from that image what the protest was, if you just had that with no caption and but it shows a real cohesive,” he said. “A fist in the air, the anger, and when you look at the caption, it’s a gay rights demonstration. I just think that one is kind of timeless and powerful.”
Another image he highlighted was taken at the March For Our Lives protest in Washington D.C., where he captured three people’s shirts saying, “We don’t want your thoughts and prayers,” one of which is a child.
“They’re basically sitting, observing this demonstration with a very powerful message on their shirt,” he said. “And that says it all from the perspective of a prospective victim.”
While Mr. Fishman practices other forms of photography, protests are unique and personal for him.
“Showing up and actually putting your body in the space with other people and letting others know this is something that is important [is powerful],” he said.
American Protest — Images from the Streets is available at Edgartown Books and online at snap-collective.com.
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