Visit to Detroit

Blighted Home

American Flag painting on bodega's wall reflecting on Car

Cultural anthropology lured me to Detroit. My visit inspired by "ruin porn," photographic images of the deserted industrial landscape and my interest in the fading of The American Dream made Detroit fertile ground for a visual exploration. The blight in Detroit is the result of neglect and abandonment, not a natural disaster or flood triggered by crumbling infrastructure as was the case in New Orleans. As jobs in Detroit's automobile factories dried up, the city started its descent from bustling metropolis to industrial wasteland. Today Detroit is on the brink of financial collapse. Miles and miles of blighted neighborhoods overpower pockets of urban renewal that include hip restaurants, community gardens and an active art scene. 

Fischer Factory

 The Packard automative Plant has become a Mecca for graffiti artists and a tourist attraction. It is slated to be torn down in the summer of 2012. The natives, however, won't believe it until it happens; many blighted buildings have been set for demolition yet remain standing. Inside the sprawling compound where General Motors once spewed out cars is an environment in flux. The compound's structures are in various states of decay. Floor after floor in building after building, artwork covers the walls. Wind and the echoing voices of people exploring the ruins rustle through the empty spaces.

A bright spot in the landscape is the Heidelberg Project, a folk art installation that takes up two city blocks. Artist Tyree Guyton started the Project in 1986, using  homes, some habitable and some not, as his canvas. You come upon the Project as you're driving through East Detroit, a particularly tough part of the city. The brightly painted homes are a breath of fresh air, a sharp contrast to the nearby burnt-out structures and lots full of debris. The lots within the Project are hull of paintings on panels and playful sculptures, some made of stuffed animals. 

During my visit to Detroit I got a dose of local politics. People were talking about the fact that Detroit may become one of the first major American cities to be governed by an emergency manager, essentially privatizing all public services and taking away the citizens' vote in any decisions about the city's future. Emergency managers have been appointed in other Michigan cities, with unfavorable results. What happens in Detroit next will set a precedent for other American cities that have fallen on hard times. Will failing cities be on the action block for corporate takeover, or will they be given a chance to reinvent themselves, a longtime American tradition?

Check out my story and photo slide show on the Atlantic's website  
and set of photos on Flickr

Upstairs in Lee Plaza

Chase bank/ Blighted home

Plackard Plant

Occupy Detroit Protest against Bank of America

Upstairs inside the Placard Plant

Anti NATO Protests in Chicago

"Summit ends without giving Chicago a black eye," the May 22 Chicago Tribune proclaimed, but I had one. On Sunday, I was shooting in the midst of a crowd on Michigan Avenue when my camera got smashed against my face as police pushed protestors back, batons swinging. The bruises didn't surface until 48 hours later as I drove away from Chicago. And much of the story of what happened in Chicago is surfacing after the fact too. 

 Police film protester with an "Orwell Was Right"
sign in Grant Park 

The overwhelming police presence on the streets was mind boggling. They were also out in force at every metro stop, waiting on line to use the bathrooms at downtown restaurants. They were everywhere, in their spanking clean uniforms, their shiny new helmets, perfect for photo ops. There were more of them on the streets than protesters, most of the time. You saw them on foot, on horses, Segways, and bicycles (one cop told me they could use some new ones), in SUVs, police cars, helicopters and city buses with LED signs that blinked "Chicago, My Kind of Town." 

Officers were used as human barricades in an effort to keep the demonstrators on main arteries, but when protesters changed course in their uncharted marches they  were permitted to go where they wanted to avoid confrontation, as long as they didn't try to get too close to McCormick Place where the NATO summit and many of the dignitaries were staying. On the surface things seemed calm and almost cozy, compared with some of the battles between demonstrators and police in New York City. It certainly seemed like democracy in action on the streets of Chicago. In fact, what happened to demonstrators and indie media types away from the main action was something else, as reported by Natasha Lennard in her story "Chicago's Fishy Arrests"  and Ryann Devereaux's story about Chicago police accused of targeting journalists . 

Police superintendent Garry McCarthy claims the number of protesters was no more than 3,000 and that Occupy Chicago's protest ultimately failed. If that is the case, what's his explanation for the overkill in police power, both visible and invisible (undercover agents and surveillance teams)? Who's to blame for the failure to assess what was needed for crowd control beforehand and the waste of so much money, both federal or local. Were journalists who were detained a threat to homeland security or was a man who carried a sign that said "George Orwell was right" on to something?


My first dispatch about the NATO summit protests on the Atlantic's web site here.  It's an overview of what I saw on the days leading up to and the first day of the summit.

Click here to see a line of cops as far as the eye can see on Michigan Ave, keeping watch on about 200 protesters who were hanging out in Grant Park. and here to see Cops boarding a Chicago City bus and a man holding a "George Orwell was right" being filmed by the police here- 

To see more of my images on the Anti-NATO protests check out the selection syndicated through Corbis.  AND check out a set of over 200 shots on flickr 

Chicago is......

Police Disperse Crowd That refuses to leave by pushing/hitting
people with billy clubs

Chicago Police in Shinny New Riot Gear

Woman at Anti NATO protest in CHicago

Occupy Wall Street Calls for An "American Spring"

Over the March 24 weekend Occupy Wall Street activists held a "Let Freedom Spring" march to protest police brutality and call for the resignation of NYPD commissioner Ray Kelley. The march started in Zuccotti Park, swelling in size as it made its way to One Police Plaza. Councilmen Jumaane Williams and Ydanis Rodriguez were out in front, holding a Stop Violence banner. The crowd grew from a few hundred to close a thousand as they made their way to Union Square, chanting anti- police slogans. The mood sea-sawed from playful to hostile, heating up in the narrow streets of NOLITA where protesters took to the streets. There were over a dozen arrests including that of 16 year old, Mesiah Burcuaga who was arrested, then in her own words "de-arrested when the crowd pulled her from police custody pushing her down the block" to then find herself violently re-arrested. (Here is a video clip or her recounting her arrest) She was thrown to the ground and then hauled off by her shoulders while protesters yelled at the police to stop hurting her.

Mesiah Taken Away by the NYPD

At Union Square all was calm until shortly before midnight, the time when police and protesters have a been having a nightly showdown. Since March 17, the six-month anniversary of OWS has made the park its' base of operations. The police have been enforcing a new midnight curfew to make sure another Zuccotti Park-type encampment cannot be established. The protesters have turned the curfew into street theater, taunting the police with donuts, and playing cat and mouse with them. Saturday night, once temperatures dropped and the crowd thinned, the police used barricades as shields as they charged the protesters, moving them off the sidewalk and further away from 14th Street. The massive show of force seemed less effective as crowd dispersal than the cold rain that ended the confrontation.

Occupy Wall Street's winter hibernation is over. But last weekend, its' message against corporate greed and social injustice was drowned out by an anti-police sentiment.

Check out my latest story/slide show on Occupy Wall Street's Spring Training on the Atlantic's site.   To see more images from this series check out a set on Flickr 

Occupy Wall Street March on March 23rd

Also please watch video clips from the weekend-
Street theater in Union Square Park- Dicey rapping to police  
Protesters take the street in NOLITA during an anti police brutality march  
Police pushing protesters off sidewalk with barricades at Union Square  
Spring Training in Zuccotti park:
Love is the Answer
Civilian Technique 
Nicole Carty Teaching the Group 

Spring Training in Zuccotti Park

OWS Protester

Protester wearing a hoodie honoring Trayvon Martin

Anti- police sentiment at Union Square 

New Orleans Corporate Day of Action Focuses on BP as the BP Oil Spill Trial Is Postponed

On February 29, 2012, the New Orleans contingent of the Occupy Wall Street movement participated in the nationwide Corporate Day of Action by protesting against a possible BP settlement in front of the Federal Courthouse. Activists joined in a mock funeral for the Gulf. The trial, scheduled to begin on February 27th, was delayed by Judge Carl Barbier for a week in hopes a settlement can be reached. If a trial comes to pass, it could take over a year to complete since there are multiple plaintiffs suing BP after the largest oil spill in American history. The protesters are against a settlement. They want the case to be heard in court so it will be public record. Cherri Foylin, a Plaquemines Parish environmental activist, thinks Gulf Coast residents need a seat at the table or at least in the courtroom and doesn't trust that an equitable settlement can be reached behind closed doors. Darla Rooks, a shrimper who came to the protest in her fishing boots, fears that the the real damage done to the environment and the health of Gulf Coast residents will never be known if there is a settlement. Protest organizer Elizabeth Cook said she believes all settlements made under the Obama administration have favored corporations and that everyone needs to see and hear the evidence prepared for this trial. During the protest, Kindra Arnesen held up pictures of people and animals sickened since the spill, a man dressed as tent monster danced in front of the courthouse entrance and others made sure those who drove down Poydras Street knew the Occupy movement's presence in New Orleans hasn't gone away. To see more pictures check out a set on Flickr 

Mardi Gras 2012

Mardi Gras Indians on MardiGras Day

Mariska Hargitay on Mardi Gras Float 

Mardi Gras reminds me how unique a place New Orleans is, a city that goes mad for days on end. There is no getting around it. Everything is affected by the parades. It is better to participate than to fight it, catch some beads and, in my case, photograph the action. This year I found myself chasing stars, hoping to license some photos since star power helps. Some of my star shots populate a slide show on The Guardian's website.  On Marid Gras Day I caught up with Ken Bauvier, the chief deputy of EMS, who showed me a map of all the spotswhere ambulances were stationed throughout the city. I asked him what his team had been dealing with. While EMS took a woman away who had a heart attack near Gallier Hall, another woman was rescued by bystanders before EMS got to her, making her spit up a corndog she was choking on. More Mardi Gras specific, EMS treated  a couple of people with head injuries, the victims hit with coconuts thrown from Zulu floats, one with a badly broken nose. While I'm a person who doesn't hang on to much in the way of material objects (having learned a life lesson to stay light on my feet, too long a story for this blog entry), I left the parade with a  a real Mardi Gras treasure, a Zulu firetruck necklace given to me by Clancey DeBos.I went back home to file my shots when I got a tip the Mardi Gras Indians were gathering along Claiborne Ave. under the I-10 overpass near Esplanade. I followed the the Yellow Pocahontas Mardi Gras Indians and  photographed them in front of the Basin Bar, shooting them cast in magic hour glow. On my way back to my bike I saw smoke rising. Cars and motorcycles were marking up the road, doing donuts in Mad Max style.  Check out a video clip here. Here is a set of my photos shot throughout Marid Gras 2012 availble through Corbis and more in a set on Flickr . 

Terry Cambise on Mardi Gras Day

Chief deputy of EMS, Ken Bauvier With Map

Clancey DeBos In The Zulu Parade 

Will Ferrell King of Bacchus

Zulu Parade Portrait

 Babydolls dance group in Zulu

Zulu Parade on St. Charles Ave.

Daryl Hannah at Gallier Hall on Mardi Gras Day

Mad Maxxing on Fat Tuesday

New Orleans New Year Starts With Lots of Gun Activity

Suspects Cuffed With Hands on Car

The new year in New Orleans has gotten off to a crime-ridden start: 27 people shot as of January 12, two dead. I spent New Year's Eve riding along with officer David Desalvo who got his first illegally used firearm off the streets along with the man who chose to shoot it into the air 30 minutes into January 1. Here is a link to my story shot during a number of ride-alongs between Christmas and New Year's Eve.   and another from a gun buy back program in Jefferson Parish held on January 7. 

I started paying more attention to cops and bad guys after my best friend was held up at gun point while shopping for an onion for our dinner. I told him we could do without the onion, but he said, "i like going to my corner bodega." He doesn't like it anymore. Two thieves, one carrying a gun, held him up the Monday night before Christmas in the well lit parking lot of market a couple blocks away from where he lives. People were around, but lately gunmen in New Olreans don't seem much troubled by witnesses. My friend gave up his money, but when the gunman wanted his car too, he fought back. While the gunman counted the money, my friend hit him in the head and ran into the store, asking them to call 911. The thieves ran. My friend chased them in his car, calling a 911 dispatcher and telling them which way the thieves were running. WIthin minutes, the gunman was caught though his accomplice got away. My friend was able to ID him and get his own ID back. His money? Well maybe one day, but more important, the gun was recovered and the perp is now sitting in jail with a high bond. Over an hour later my friend was back. He didn't have the onion, but he did have a story one doesn't hear much in New Orleans: a story about police doing a great job. Ten officers were on the scene in minutes. That is what inspired me to do a series of ride-alongs.

My friend is the last person I'd exoect to be a victim, He's pretty tough. His sudden vulnerability shook me up. After a few ride-alongs I see New Orleans differently. Crime is not making me think of moving on or staying in, but I do lock my car doors while driving and I don't shop in the 5th district at night . Filling up my gas tank has become a daytime activity.


 click here to see me on Fox 8 talking with Rob Masson and Liz Reyes about my photos from the gun buy back program and ride alongs.

A Lorcin .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol, turned in for $50

These days don't be surprised if you here gun shots on the streets.

Perp who lost his shoe while running from officer DaSalvo 

A drunk man is subdued after a domestic violence incident on New Year's Eve.

Johnny Ngai  and Benny Griffen with guns turned in at the Gun Buy Back Program

Bi-coastal Coverage of the Occupy Wall Street Movement

Jane Ready For Action in Oakland 

On 11/09 Jane Tyska, a photojournalist friend, tipped me off that the destruction of the Occupy Oakland encampment was imminent. I flew out from New Orleans the next day. I had a chance to meet some of the protesters and document the site before it was torn down by the police on 11/14. The police did their job with professionalism, unlike an earlier raid where excessive force and tea rgas were used. The press were allowed some access to the encampment during the teardown. The next day there was a march, rally and start up of a new encampment at UC Berkeley. Robert Reich addressed over 5,000 people gathered in in Sproul Plaza, famed as the location of protests in the '60s. I spent the night there while the police kept reminding students who spent the night in their newly built tent city that they were subject to arrest. In the group was Daniel Ellsberg, who chatted with me about the Occupy movement, war and whistle blowers. He told me the Obama administration has gone after more whistle blowers than any other: seven, to date. As morning broke I headed for the airport and a flight to NYC.

As the sun came up on November 17th, I got my first post-eviction look at Zuccotti Park. The police had the park barricaded. except for a few points of access. Cleaners were spraying down parts of the park. Protesters who met across the street before a march on Wall Street were tense. Hundreds if not over a thousand police were on hand. My experience with the police varied: One officer told me that the police are part of the 99% and only doing their job; another used his baton to push me back when there was no back to back up to.

With Occupy Wall Street going into its third month, American journalists no longer have to fly to a distant land to be in harm's way covering the news. Nor do they have to be in a third world country to find they do not have the freedom to cover the story.

Check out my story/slide show on the Atlanic's site on the raid of Occupy Oakland's Camp
and story/slide show from the NYC Day of Action http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/an-inside-look-at-todays-occupy-wall-street-scuffles/248673/#slide3
Watch the Barricades in Zuccotti Park being taken down by Occupy Wall Street protesters
Set of Occupy CA on Flickr
Set of Occupy Wall Street  on Flickr

Riot Police Raid Occupy Oakland

Trading Post at Occupy San Francisco

Berkely Students Marching Before Occupy Plaza

Daniel Ellsberg Early Morning in Sproul Palza

Robert Reich Speaking in Sproul Plaza

 Nadina Laspina Arreseted on Nov. 17th NYC

Police Push Press Back With Billyclubs in NYC

"Pancho" Ramos Stierle Arrested during Raid on Occupy Oakland Camp

Berkeley Student Set Up Tents in Sproul Plaza During Rally