Social movement are inherently creative. We are in such a moment now and the streets of Oakland are an art gallery that has surfaced an energy that has been invisible to me until now. Its alive. It’s diverse. Its expressive of the moment and of the universal urgency for dignity and agency. It is beautiful.
I finally took a walk through downtown Oakland where the art is on display for a limited period until no doubt eventually “normal” commercial activity will resume and things will return to their typical blandness. I even captured a few images of the concrete jungle side of Oakland to envision what it might revert to. Or perhaps they won’t.
Its was a weekend in the midst of a pandemic so the streets were pretty empty. It allowed me to get a clear, square frame shot of the art and perhaps a little sense of the oppressiveness of the concrete jungle into which these acts of human creative resilience have been inserted.
