Chris Cook's Timeless Pictures of the Black Lives Matter Protests in New York

For Brooklyn-born-and-raised artist, Chris Cook, the process of film photography starts with choosing the film, then shooting it, all the way to home developing and scanning. His passion for skateboarding and capturing memories led him to film photography after a friend mentioned the Canon AE-1. Both the delayed gratification and craft that go into film photography have had Chris hooked to the medium. During the past couple of weeks, Chris has been out on the streets photographing the Black Lives Matter upheaval.

With some Berlin Kino pushed to 800, he captured some serendipitous moment from the protests, as well as some poignant and striking scenes.

Hello Chris! Great to have you here at Lomography. Can you tell us what makes you press the shutter on a daily basis?

To tell stories. I feel photography made me more social and give me the motivation to go outside.

What did those protests mean to you, and why was it important to immortalize them?

The protests represent a much-needed movement to call upon the years of systemic racism in America. As a black photographer, I have an important role in this movement because I can display different parts of movement which a white photographer cannot capture. This movement is unique because everyone has a way to capture their own history.

Why did you shoot the protests on film?

To have a feeling of timelessness through my film shots. I wanted to have my viewers to view the images and notice a lot of similarities from past civil rights movements.

Can you walk us through a day of protesting and shooting in your shoes?

I start off for research on organizations and who they represent. When I get to the location I observe who is there and the overall movements as a group. Lastly, I will be involved and talk to people.

From the pictures you sent us, do you have a favorite one? Can you tell us the story behind it?

My favorite image is the father and kid. I was walking around my neighborhood a few days before Father’s Day and capture the moment. I find it’s funny because my contact sheet displays a bit of my day by day travels and things revolving around the movement.

Do you have any project we should be on the lookout for?

I’m working on a project named relationships. It documents black creatives through their relationships through their craft and skills.

Is there anything you want to add ?

Yes, we need to speak up. There’s a lot of things in the photo industry I felt that got swept under the rug. As creatives, our voice has power and we should never be afraid to speak up.

To follow more of Chris' work, follow him on Instagram or his website .

written by tamarasaade on 2020-07-27 in #gear #news #people