Trump International Hotel and Tower

No matter where you stand on the political spectrum there is no denying that the current president is making some noise. Closer to home the Trump Tower has become a gathering place for protesters, supporters, artists, and tourists.

NO!

#MAGA

The artist who created this sculpture was not being political, as this piece was made several years ago. Whoever decided to install it across the river from the tower was probably practicing some political commentary.

Trump tourism

Click on images to view on black.

Peaceful Protest

There were two anti-Trump protest rallies/marches this past weekend, February 19 & 20. The first was on the one month mark of Donald Trump's presidency and the second was dubbed "Not My President's Day," a play on the holiday. I originally thought about approaching these protest/street style shots in monochrome. However, people made all kinds of colorful signs, and the makeup of the diverse crowd was colorful as well so I shot it in color, with Fujifilm's classic chrome film simulation.

I do not have a zoom lens for my Fuji X-Pro2. I spent my time switching between three different prime lenses: the 23, 35, and 56mm lenses (35, 50 and 85mm full-frame, respectively). I was kind of slow with my lens changes, although I don't feel like I missed any shots. The difficulty I faced was that I would see framing for the lens that I did not have on the camera, lol. The next such event I go to I might just carry one prime with me, and that would help me to just look at framing scenes for only one focal length.

There was a band called the Sousaphones Against Hate. They played some Pink Floyd tunes and standards such as "The Imperial March" (Darth Vader's theme).

No hate

What I found myself doing was just taking picture after picture of signs, something I didn't want to end up doing the entire time, but I saw interesting signs every direction I turned. I just chose this one to share here randomly.

"Ding Dong"

There were three pro-Trump supporters at the rally--that I noticed anyway. The interactions between them and the anti-Trump crowd made for more compelling images.

This red, white, and blue clad woman with the megaphone repeatedly chanted "Happy Trumpiversary! He is your president..."

She was not whispering sweet nothings

It was great seeing young people engage like these two young men talking to the pro-Trump guy in the suit. There was some yelling from both sides, but this guy remained calm and talked rather than yelled. That's something we all need to remind ourselves to do. The boys asked him some questions, but I wasn't able to hear over other protesters who were trying to drown out the pro-Trumpers.

Political discourse

The woman in black was really trying to drown out the pro-Trump woman with the megaphone. She led various chants, and the anti-Trump crowd responded.

Say 'No' to Trump

There was a group of Muslims who arrived together, perhaps bussed in for the event. I missed a shot when they arrived. One Muslim man was taking in the rest of the crowd--how diverse it was, how loudly they chanted, and how they were all there to support Muslims and each other. The man nodded and his eyes were welling up with tears. Seeing the emotion on his face touched me. That was the only shot that I regret not getting.

Muslims are Americans too

This was my favorite sign.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses..."

Pro-Trump selfie

Click images to view on black.