I tried to dig my head into sand and avoid reading the news as much as I can. After being a journalism student for more than a year, I was sick of keeping on top of news that didn’t provide any actionable insights. Most of it was just “something unfortunate happened here” and “something else sucked over there” without any analysis on how I, the reader, could avoid the same predicament.
But there are some things that I can’t avoid, such as when hundreds of truckers parade down Ottawa’s local streets. As any journalist would tell you, that was the prime opportunity to grab my camera and run out there to take photographs. I ended up taking about 5 GB of photos and selected, edited, and compressed about 30 of them.
These are the photos that were focused properly, framed right, and showed what I observed. I climbed on five-metre tall piles of snow, stood on trucks, walked between lines of trucks, and elbowed my way through a loud crowd to snap them.
I saw hot dog stands, vulgar signs, hamburgers being grilled fresh, youth kicking cans around on the ground, policemen petting protesters’ dogs, and several helicopters buzzing over Sparks Street. I approached from the west end of Wellington Street and left at the east end near the Rideau Canal.
“Justin, where are you?” Goaded one protestor on a megaphone.
Maybe he’s out looking for common ground. Ottawa Police sent its Underwater Search and Recovery Unit. If common ground does exist, they’re going to have to look hard and dive deep for it.
I did not identify myself as a journalist to the crowd for my own safety – I didn’t need to, I’m legally allowed to photograph and publish what can be seen in plain sight on public grounds in Canada. I walked along a route with police presence and kept my press vest and press documents in my pockets. Not identifying myself as a journalist allowed me to blend in and capture true interactions, emotions, and make organic observations. I didn’t go there to do interviews, I went there to try to record history in its truest, unadulterated form.
My job is to bring you there – this time with photos. It’s up to you to make up your own mind.
