The only political conflict that I’ve ever photographed was the George Floyd protests during the turbulent summer of 2020. Like most other people, I was jobless, reeling from the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and then mortified by the murder of George Floyd. In May, 2020, the culmination of those feelings came to a peak when people started rioting in Philadelphia and across the nation. Over the course of June, I regularly biked into Center City to witness the unrest. On one of the first days of documenting this conflict, I saw a group of people rising up to tear down the Frank Rizzo statue in Philadelphia. I learned about the former mayor and police commissioner in Let the Fire Burn (2013), a documentary about the 1985 standoff between the black liberation group, MOVE, and the Philadelphia Police Department.

I shared the image, The Defacing of the Frank Rizzo Statue, Philadelphia (2020), and it spread quickly. Meg Onli, the curator for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, called me and said that the image inspired her to start the Art for Philadelphia Bail Fund. She asked if a print of the image could be included along with works from other artists to help raise money in response to the uprisings. Prints in editions of 20 were sold until July 4 in an effort to support the protesters.

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List of Works

13. Two police and a pig mask,
Philadelphia, 2020
14. Black cop, Philadelphia, 2020
15. Postester biking amongst cops biking, Philadelphia, 2020
16. Black man with family in Malcolm X Park, Philadelphia, 2020
17. Women in Malcolm X Park on Juneteenth, Philadelphia, 2020
18. Protest at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 2020
19. Young protester with his hand on his chest, Philadelphia, 2020
20. Protester and cop at Municipal Building, Philadelphia, 2020