I’ve never been involved in a protest. Never felt the need to. In fact, I’ve never seen one in the flesh but with all the hoopla of the G20 summit currently in Melbourne, I decided to put my photo-journalist hat on today… and jump into the thick of the mayhem and action that was about to take place in the streets of Melbourne. To say that it was all an exhausting and overwhelming afternoon is really putting it mildly. It’s weird witnessing unprovoked carnage unfold before you and at the same time, trying to keep a level and alert head so as to not end up injured yourself. But even with the potential danger, I wanted to experience it for myself and document it all as best as I can for no other reason but to experience the thrill.
I got to the top end of Collins St at about 11am. It was quite eerie seeing the streets of Melbourne deserted. The police had set up barricades protecting the hotel where the summit was taking place and were in preparation for the on-coming onslaught. I kept out of their way but surveyed the area around me because in a matter of minutes, it would be swarming with mayhem.
The barricade was next to a side alley which led through to Chinatown. I heard one of the senior policeman tell his colleagues that the throng would emanate from this alley and for his officers to be prepared. The police had also assigned one officer to stand at the entrance to the alleyway and tell the rest of them when the activists would be arriving. He was also filming the events. There really was no need for him to sound the warning, because you could hear the mass approaching. With choppers overhead circling the area, the crowd got louder and louder as they were getting closer. This was my cue to make my move and head down the alley against the flow of the oncoming protesters. This was a little scary but I wanted to get shots of them coming towards me. I wasn’t sure how they would react to someone taking their pics as there were reports that they were attacking media throughout the day. (Not that I am media accredited, but I looked the part nonetheless).
A mass of masked people were flowing past me. Punk tunes blasting out of a makeshift boom-box and it literally felt like a war-zone. It all stank to high heaven too. That was one of the things that stuck in my mind - the stench of body odor and the fact that many of the masked protesters were carrying garbage bins to throw at the police once they made it to the barricade. I joined in the moving traffic and found myself heading back towards the police with the protesters all around me. My plan was to exit the alley and do a left and continue shooting at a safe distance. My plan worked (thankfully) and I wasn’t the victim of flying debris or baton waving police.
For all the flak they cop (pardon the pun) the police were amazing today. Under extremely difficult conditions, they managed to keep the crowd at bay with minimal casualties and injuries. In fact, most of the injured protesters were victims of friendly fire.
I managed to squeeze into the frontline and got some good shots of the riot police. They were quite imposing and steely-eyed so I was happy to shoot away as fast as I could and exit the immediate line of chaos.
All in all, I got to live out a dream of being a photo-journalist today. I got home tired and exhausted and trying to decipher all that I witnessed today. I really felt for the cops today… helluva way to make a living.
friendly fire? my left arm is black and blue after blowing kissess at police