ENTRY DESCRIPTION
Date Taken – Saturday May 30th

Location – Beverly Blvd, The Grove

Description – When I first arrived at The Grove on Beverly Blvd in LA, I came across these 2 men in the middle of the street, sitting by their car. When I asked if they minded if I quickly took a photo of them, one replied, “Go ahead, this is the peaceful protest!”. Soon after this moment I realized that on the other side of The Grove, multiple police cars had been vandalized and some set ablaze. The police pushed crowds back, tear gas and rubber bullets were being fired at the crowds in an attempt to disperse the people who were standing their ground.

AUTHOR
The story so far...
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At the end of November 2019, I inherited an old Sony camera from my step father after he had passed away. I only had it a month or so before it accidentally broke during a trip in Thailand during a kayaking incident on Monkey Island...but that's a story for another day...
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In February after I had returned to Los Angeles, I purchased a new camera. Soon after however, Corona Virus began to spread aggressively. With everything going on, I started to feel a little unsafe in Hollywood/Los Angeles so I decided to move back to the UK for a few months.

I managed to get on a plane the day before flights were halted, I took my recently purchased camera with me and spent the next 2 months in the North-East of England in a small seaside town called Cromer.

I spent a lot of time during quarantine watching youtube photography tutorial videos and other online courses to help me understand more about my new found passion. I made the most progress when practicing just using trial and error, discovering techniques, learning how to edit while trying to find and develop my own style.
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Towards the end of May I flew back to Los Angeles. Soon after I saw on the news that protests had begun, there was a large crowd gathering by The Grove. I had never been to a protest before but felt an overwhelming urge to go. I felt that I needed to capture as much of what was happening as possible and be a part of the movement in the most effective way I now knew how.
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I met a lot of incredible people at the protests from all walks of life. I heard stories of their pain and frustration, I saw such powerful moments of love, compassion and community. It really helped me develop a much better understanding of American history and culture.
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After receiving such amazing feedback from my work, it was suggested that I do an exhibition. Having never held an exhibition before and barely even owning a camera for 9 months, I wasn't sure if the time was right but the idea of being able to raise money for charity by donating all of the profits from sales and to be able to showcase my photos of what had been happening in the past months, much like the urge to go to the protests initially, I simply had to.
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The exhibition was a great success, lots of people came to support and I managed to raised over $4500 for charity...(so far)
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I have been fortunate enough to work with and learn from some fantastically talented people that have helped inspire me and encourage me on the next chapter of my life.

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