Not Quite Finished with the California Shots

On the same day I went to Santa Monica and made that photo of the jazz singer, there were also two abortion rallies meeting simultaneously and advocating for completely opposing sides: pro-choice and pro-life.

In the first two photographs, you see a man from the pro-life band holding a camcorder. He grew increasingly menacing and invading, taunting the pro-choice people, and making arguments in the name of God. Eventually, the cops intervened and asked him to step back since he was harassing these people. He repeatedly denied any wrongdoing on his part.

Both parties began walking along the 3rd Street Promenade, their constituents almost mixing with one another, it was hard to distinguish whom belonged to which side, except for those carrying banners. The pro-choice people were honoring Dr. George Tiller, whom had recently been shot by an anti-abortion activist. The pro-life people carried posters with gruesome, bloody images of lifeless fetuses, which I found distasteful and even disrespectful considering this street is filled with restaurants where people eat outside, and where many parents go with their kids... Imagine explaining to them what it is they were seeing in those very graphic pictures. But maybe that was the idea.

All across the street there are shops and more informal street vendors, many times people who want to inform passersby about different topics, such as the Muslim girl on the last two photos, who was selling books about Islam. Since the moment I saw her, something about her captivated me, and once the protesters caught up with us, I couldn't help but wonder what went through her mind as she saw this... Not even after scrutinizing her expression in all the photographs I took, have I been able to decipher it.