Images from Massachusetts College of Art and Design student Kayla Rich tell a modern story of civil protest reminiscent of our past.
This is a series I did using photographs I’ve taken at recent protests in Boston rallying against hatred, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, and more. While editing my photos, I noticed how much they looked like old protest photos from the 60’s and 70’s. It made me realize that we are the next generation of the Civil Rights Movement. It was an empowering moment to realize this and see it with my own eyes, especially since a lot of the photos I took are of people I know. I decided to make my photos look like those iconic black and white Polaroids to pay homage to this realization. Many tell us not to protest, to go home and that protesting is pointless. At the same time we celebrate historic events like the Martin Luther King March and the fall of the Berlin Wall. These events wouldn’t have occurred if the participants had listened to the people who told them to be silent. If you believe that marching is pointless, that the Civil Rights Movement is a thing of the past, that people shouldn’t speak up for what they believe in, I say please read this quote:
“To the people who say that it can’t be done, please move out of the way of the people who are doing it.” ~Mirah from the song “No Guns No Guns”
Kayla Rich is from Haverhill MA and a student at MASSART
