Documentary Photography

Stop the War Coalition Demonstration, Norwich

Demonstrators from the Stop the War Coalition, march down St Stephen's Street, Norwich March 2006. Helen Williams.

Shooting live action on the street is exciting, but it's not often that anything remotely described as 'action' happens on my local streets. However, recent unrest about current government's stance on the war in Iraq has manifested itself in the formation of a group of activists known as the Stop the War Coalition.

In March 2006 this group staged a protest march along the city streets, culminating in a peaceful demonstration on the steps the city's Forum - an appropriately named venue if ever there was one.

I knew of the event a few days in advance and planned to be there to document the protest. Just as I was about to leave the house, it started to snow. It was bitterly cold. I had too much work to do, deadlines looming up and passing me by unmet. It was very, very tempting to stay indoors.

But I went.

What a hero.

It's a hard life, being a photojournalist.

My efforts were rewarded by some good shots, and I reminded myself that the demonstrators probably didn't think twice about braving the snow in order to make their point, so it was very feeble of me even to consider not going along to shoot.

I found myself running alongside the march, vying with the other photographers to get the best angle, darting in and out of the crowd and zipping through short cuts to move from the back of the line to the front. All very professional! Not.

The results of my little foray into the world of the press photographer can be seen here.

URLs

Stop the War Coalition Demonstration