G20 Protest, June 26th, 2010

G20 Protest, June 26th, 2010, originally uploaded by thebig-pineapple.

Covering the G20 protests was like nothing I have ever experienced before as a photographer. There were literally thousands of people walking the streets of Toronto on Saturday June 26th looking to have their voice heard and stories told.

As I waded through the crowds, I had to keep myself in check, it was easy to become overwhelmed and just take pictures for the sake of taking pictures. Gradually I became accustom to the environment and started picking my moments. I let the crowd pass by so I could come back at it from the rear. This was about the time I made it to Queen and Spadina, the parade having begun at Queens Park.
As I arrived, I noticed a large group of people milling about, these were the members of the Black Bloc.

I was quickly informed that my presence as a representative of the media was not appreciated, but I ignored the warnings and did what I had come to Toronto to do, and cover what I saw.
Suddenly a flare was lit and I knew things were about to get wild; once it had expired the crowd, with a yell, began to run back East along Queen Street easily pushing past the thin line of police that were following the protest.

Almost immediately as I began to move forward with the crowd, a bottle flew directly over my head, splashing me with water as it spun and crashed into the street in front of me. The close call shook me, but I hurried forward none the less.

As Black Bloc protesters smashed windows and spray painted buildings, myself and other photographers were harassed and pushed as we attempted to do our jobs. Quickly I realized it would be a good idea to pare up, so I asked the closest fellow photojournalist if it was cool if I worked with him. Steve Russell, as I would later know him by, agreed and effectively took me under his wing.
Steve is an amazing photographer who works for the Toronto Star, and I implore you to please click on his name and check out his work.
The two of us banded with other photographers and journalists and together worked to protect each others backs.

Gradually, the protest wound its way to Bay and King, where two police cruisers were lit on fire. This is where the police, in full riot gear, finally began to block off the riot's advance. To that point they had not attempted to intervene in the rioting and quell the violence. Furthermore, what they did at this point was fairly minimal.

The Black Bloc were funneled east on King, and that is where we lost them. Steve, myself and the others in our group managed to make our way out of the area and I breathed a sigh of relief.
For the first time in about an hour, I felt safe. I had been running on fear and adrenaline since Spadina and my head was swimming.

I thanked Steve for looking out for me and headed off to find some more action.
What I want to express is that I was scared the for the entire riot, but I mastered that fear and was still able to preform. I came to Toronto for that exact experience, and once it began, I knew I couldn't back down.

I've never been prouder to be a photojournalist than I was that day.