(click the neg to big the pic)
In 1997, February of that year, I started a new job at Helix Photoart in Milwaukee, WI. I was a rental clerk, assisting clients in getting the gear they needed. This was my second job out of college – I’d first spent a year and a half as a camera salesman (and part-time restaurant host). In early December, while getting ready for work one day, I heard there was going to be a KKK rally in Beloit, WI. I’m not sure what grabbed me that day, but I felt strongly that I needed to be there with the protesters in opposition to the klan. So, I called work, and nervously said that I couldn’t come in that day – no, I wasn’t sick, I was OK…but I had to go protest. I packed film and a couple cameras and off I went.
I had learned the American Black Holocaust Museum was going to rally at their location near North Ave., and then head to Beloit. I went to the ABHM, heard a speaker or two talk – including Dr. James Cameron, the founder of the museum. If you’ve never heard of him, you need to –> HERE. His memoir, “A Time of Terror…” is hard to find, but a new edition is coming .
Here are some of the images I made in Beloit. I know these are just the negatives, but in this era of digital photography, there is something magical in seeing just the negative (there was even a book of photos, of famous negatives). I feel fortunate to have been able to go to that protest. In photography, you never know the value of the photos you make at the time you make them. You just try to do your best in that moment. Since making these photos, I’ve been lucky to collaborate with the ABHM to put an image of James Cameron to good use, to educating people that we NEED to be better. And we need to be aware of the shameful parts of our American history.
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For the photo-geeks, these were shot with a Nikon N90s and a Mamiya 7.
