signs of the times

Jamie Whittington, girl photographer, flew from California to DC to march.

Chien-Chi Chang, Magnum photog, flew to NYC from Graz.

 Signs, signs, everywhere a sign. Photos of the women's marches all over the world were mostly pictures of handmade signs—everyone had their own agenda as well as one great overarching one: Dump Trump. There were plenty of great photos and great signs, but none convey the sheer joy of the occasion as well as the videos that pop up all over the web. In this article in Canada's Macleans, the video of Donna Ferrato shooting the march in Washington DC conveys some of this excitement. And it was excitement multiplied as the numbers of millions rolled in. Here is a spreadsheet of estimated marchers around the country, though Block Island is not included. New York City approached half a million, and they were marching downtown from all the way up here on the Upper White Side. Maybe the most impressive pictures, along with closeups of the faces, were the aerials of the masses. Protesting does not produce transformation of society, as many articles such as this one point out. But they make people feel less helpless and more hopeful.
    Oh, and no tear gas goggles were needed. Anywhere.

I did not have to leave the Upper West Side to photograph some signs.