This online gallery provides more examples of my photographic work, at least since 2003. I do have extensive images prior to that and I am in the process of cataloguing them. Every photo below represents a series of photos documenting the events listed. All of these photographs have been published in print or online media; many have been in exhibits.
Serious inquiries only: If you are an editor, art director, gallery representative, book publisher, writer/journalist, or are from a nonprofit or charity organization and would like to see further photos from the samples below, please contact LangellePhoto@PhotoLangelle.org or call +1.716.536.5669 for details and terms.
Free Trade Area of the Americas Protests, Miami, FL [2003]
Demonstrators covering their faces with bandanas to protect themselves from riot police tear gas
An estimated 20,000 marched against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in Miami, FL on 20 November 2003. Trade ministers from thirty-four countries were in Miami to discuss the neoliberal trade agreement that would stretch from Alaska to Chile. There was an unpermitted march in the morning and a permitted march in the afternoon led by organized labor. After the permitted march, police used tear gas, fired rubber bullets into the crowd, used electronic tasers and deployed other less-lethal weapons in the assault. Many demonstrators and bystanders were injured.
World Trade Organization Protests, Cancun, Mexico [2003]
Protesters tear down fences after a South Korean farmer committed suicide moments earlier
Thousands of protesters, the majority farmers, were joined by Indigenous peoples, labor and students to protest in the streets of Cancun, Mexico in September 2003 against the WTO. Protests also occurred inside the WTO conference after a South Korean farmer, Lee Kyoung Hae, 56 years old and father of two, committed suicide while he was on top of one of the wire barricades outside of the convention center. The entire meetings were overshadowed by the slogan, “The WTO Kills Farmers,” and the talks collapsed. The collapse of the Cancun talks were viewed as a victory for developing countries including Brazil, India, China, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and other nations.
March for Women’s Lives, Washington, D.C., [2004]
Actress and entertainer Ashley Judd addresses the crowd during the rally at the March for Women’s Lives
Estimates of well over one million women and men marched in Washington, DC on 25 April 2004 to support reproductive freedom, the right to privacy, and global family planning. While the political spectrum represented ranged from Madeline Albright to the Anarchist black bloc, most people united under the goal of protecting the Constitutional right of a woman to choose. Another common theme was getting the Bush Administration out of the White House, though opinions differed as to what should replace it. The March organizers stated that CNN reported the march as the largest in American history.
Democratic National Convention, Boston, MA [2004]
Two hooded activists demonstrate on the morning of the first day of the 2004 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Boston, MA against the so-called “Free Speech Zone,” re-dubbed by activists as the “protest pit”
Demonstrators converged to protest the “Free Speech” pit’s prison-like structure–complete with an 8-foot high chain link fence, razor wire, cameras and uniformed guards high above on platforms.
Demonstrators entered the pit, donned black hoods and had their hands bound behind their backs. They knelt in silence before the fence in protest of the extreme limitations placed on free speech in Boston during the duration of the DNC. A press release compared the “pit” to the prison camps in Guantanamo Bay and to the Abu Ghraib prison stating, “The extremist crackdown on civil and political freedoms in the wake of 911 and the war on terror ushers in the age of a ‘Guantanamo Bay/ Camp X-Ray’ approach to ciminalizing the voices of the people. Why do the Democrats stand silent while this assault on democracy occurs in the shadow of the Fleet Center itself? From Abu Ghraib to Camp X-Ray, Guantanamo Bay to the streets of Boston: Is this what democracy looks like?”
Republican National Convention, New York, NY [2004]
Woman protester at Ground Zero (former site of the World Trade Center) as thousands converged on New York City for demonstrations against the 2004 Republican National Convention (RNC), over the war in Iraq and other issues
Many New Yorkers expressed their anger throughout the convention, saying that then President George W. Bush and the Republican Party were had chosen New York City for their convention to take advantage of the 11 September 2001 World Trade Center attack.
4th World Water Forum, Mexico City [2006]
Thousands participated in the peoples’ march against the 4th World Water Forum
The 4th World Water Forum held from 16-20 March 2006 in Mexico City culminated in an appeal to governments, published by non-governmental organizations from four continents that called for concrete action to implement the right to water for all, as well as steps to counter multinational corporations’ interference.
At their alternative events and protest actions, NGOs and social movements in Mexico City repeatedly pointed to the lack of legitimacy of the World Water Forum. The Forum meets every three years, and is regarded as the most important world gathering on the topic of water. The World Water Council, which organizes the Forum, is comprised of governments, development organizations, banks and corporations, as well as research institutes and a few NGOs; it is dominated by the private sector.
United Nations Climate Convention, Bali, Indonesia [2006]
A protester raises his fist during the International Day of Action, 8 December 2007, march against climate change. On an extremely hot and humid day the march drew thousands to the streets in Denpasar, close to the UN climate talks in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), took place at the Bali International Convention Center in Nusa Dua from 3 – 14 December. Some praised the outcomes of the process, which resulted in consensus on a “Bali Roadmap,” an agreement to continue climate change negotiations with a deadline of 2009 for a new plan to succeed the Kyoto Protocol that would expire in 2012. Others condemned the conclusion as acquiescing to the United States with a process moving much too slowly to match the urgency of the situation.
World Social Forum, Nairobi, Kenya [2007]
A scene from the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya
The seventh World Social Forum was held in Nairobi, Kenya in January 2007. There were 66,000 registered attendees, and 1,400 participating organizations from 110 countries, making it the most globally representative WSF so far. It was criticized as being ‘an NGO fair’ and movements of the poor in Kenya and South Africa mounted protests against some of the NGOs that attended.
G-8 Protests, Rostock and Heiligndamm, Germany (2007)
Police relieve themselves in public during demonstrations in Rostock, Germany against a meeting of the G8–the world’s eight richest nations–in nearby Heiligendamm
Over 80,000 people protested the heads of the world’s richest nations, the Group of 8 (G8) in Germany. In early June 2007, the G8 held a summit in the old resort town of Heiligendamm, Germany (near Rostock).
The G8 leaders met behind a 12 km fence topped with razor and barbed wire with their only access into meetings either by helicopter or boat as over ten thousand protesters blockaded all main roads and train tracks into Heiligendamm. The fence itself cost over 12.4 million Euros and millions more were spent for security.
UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Bonn, Germany [2008]
A Frankentree symbolizing the dangers of genetically engineered trees (GE trees)
At the May 2008 UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, Germany, Global Justice Ecology Project worked together with La Via Campesina on the issue of agrofuels and their impacts on small farmers and the environment. During the CBD, La Via Campesina announced that they were launching a new campaign against Genetically Engineered trees due to industry’s promotion of GE trees as a new source for so-called ‘second generation’ cellulosic agrofuels. During the convention, there was a unanimous call by all NGOs, Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations, social movements and the entire African delegation for a global ban on the release of GE trees into the environment.
World Social Forum, Belém, Brazil [2009]
The ninth World Social Forum took place in the Brazilian city of Belém, the capital of Pará state and the northeastern gateway to the Amazon jungle region. The global economic crisis and its effects, as well as environmental and climate issues were high on the agenda at this forum that gathered people and social movements from around the world. About 1,900 Indigenous peoples, representing 190 ethnic groups attended the event, to raise awareness of the plights that they face.
G-20 Protests, Pittsburgh, PA (2009)
Protesters walk beneath an underpass as they march toward the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the heavily fortified facility where leaders of the twenty richest countries (G-20) were meeting
The 2009 G-20 Pittsburgh Summit was the third meeting of the G-20 heads of state to discuss the global financial crisis and the world economy. The summit was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 24 – 25 September 2009.
The Summit was classified as a National Special Security Event. Thousands of police were backed up by Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters, armored Humvees and crews of US Army soldiers, as well as ten 25-foot boats with M240 machine guns from the Coast Guard.
UN Climate Convention, Copenhagen, Denmark [2009]
During the first week of the 2009 UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, information was leaked about secret meetings held by the Danish government with some of the world’s largest polluters. The meetings produced a document dubbed “The Copenhagen Accord,” that allowed for global increases in temperature of 2 degrees Celsius. This led to outrage by excluded African delegates who responded with a spontaneous protest on December 8. The delegates chanted “Two degrees is suicide” to point out that a two degree global temperature rise would have devastating impacts on Africa, leading to millions of deaths.
Because the Copenhagen Climate Conference was where the agreement was to be finalized that would succeed the Kyoto Protocol after it expired in 2012, it was a focal point for protests by social movements, Indigenous Peoples and activists from around the world. A new alliance called Climate Justice Action was formed the previous year to organize opposition protests. These included a “Reclaim Power” march out of the conference, led by Indigenous Peoples and a march toward the conference center by protesters not accredited to enter the UN grounds. The two groups were to meet at the security fence for a “Peoples’ Assembly” to discuss collaborative efforts to find real, peoples’ solutions to the climate crisis. The marches on both sides of the fence were violently stopped by the Danish police and the Peoples’ Assembly did not take place. Some Danish organizers were charged under anti-terrorism laws.
US Social Forum and Incinerator Protest, Detroit, MI [2010]
Sandra Turner-Handy of the Michigan Environmental Council speaks to the crowd before the march on the incinerator
Thousands of people converged on the city of Detroit, MI from 22 – 26 June for the US Social Forum. The official website of the USSF described the event as “a movement building process. It is not a conference but it is a space to come up with the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. The USSF is the next most important step in our struggle to build a powerful multi-racial, multi-sectoral, inter-generational, diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this country and changes history.”
The USSF ended on 26 June with around a thousand of Detroit residents as well as local and national environmental advocates marching on Detroit’s waste incinerator–to urge city leaders to put an end to “dirty energy.”
UN Climate Convention, Cancun, Mexico [2010]
Joaquin Sanchez from Grassroots Global Justice Alliance is outraged after his accreditation was taken away and he was put on a bus and removed from UN grounds
After youth activists led a walkout following a Global Justice Ecology Project press conference, Bolivia’s Pablo Solon joined them to address the media from the stairs of the building. The youth activists went on to loudly denounce the “inaccessibility and unjust nature of the talks” and expressed outrage over having been repeatedly denied permission to hold a youth delegation protest on the UN grounds. As the youth marched away, they were accosted by UN security, stripped of their badges, put onto buses powered by jatropha-based biofuels and evicted from the climate conference.
UN Climate Convention, Durban, South Africa [2011]
On 3 December 2011 thousands of people from around the world hit the streets of Durban, South Africa to protest the UN Climate Conference
The 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Durban, South Africa, from 28 November to 11 December 2011. Nicknamed by activists as “The Durban Disaster,” at one point, it appeared that the talks might actually collapse, but a small cabal of 20-30 countries held exclusive closed-door talks over the final days to create the Durban Platform. This platform was described by carbon analyst Matteo Mazzoni as “an agreement between parties to arrange another agreement.”
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Why Copyright? One of the reasons I copyright my photographs is to track where these photos are being used in order to monitor the impact of my work and evaluate the effectiveness of Langelle Photography, a nonprofit organization.