F  L  A  U  N  T

Introduction and Curation by Bil Brown 

In flagrante delicto. They were caught in the act. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, the countless unnamed dead, imprisoned, lost lives. In LA alone, the LAPD is responsible for 901 unresolved murders—and make no mistake they are murderers. The LAPD doesn’t have a leg to stand on, or kneel. We know what they’ve done.

These protests, not violence but anti-violence, are enacted on a rule of law that defies the unsaid social contract that has been broken. And the POTUS wants to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, and yeah, maybe it is an insurrection. An uprising. The LAPD alone, not to mention the other 17,985 U.S. police agencies in the United States have systematically, over time, become the antithesis of their original premise “to serve and protect”. To serve whom, and protect whom? A laughable paradigm since when have they ever served anyone but the tax evaders that dumped tea into the Boston harbor? The original White Anglo-Nationalists that just wanted to keep more money, and enlisted the rest-of-us in their tom-foolery. 

The police are a paramilitary force within our cities, counties, states, and even the national front which supposedly upholds our Constitution—the one that says, we are “all created equal.” And for whom do they serve? Not the 13% of our largest designated (another laughable term, as we are all Americans) minority, who has been under the microscope of policing since the Civil War. Do we really have to tell them BLACK LIVES MATTER? Evidently we do.

My Kentucky uncle told me at 13 that the reason the Klan was invoked was to chase runaway wives. I guess that means sexism can fit in here too. It’s all connected. Even the word ‘race’ implies a competition, a fear that someone can and will be better than you. They are fearful. 

This paramilitary force called ‘The Police’ was newly empowered in the 21st century by The 1033 Program—a government program that transfers excess military equipment to civilian law enforcement agencies and since 2014, almost half of the police agencies in the US have participated in it. $5.1 billion dollars has transferred from the coffers of the local PD to the Pentagon in a program that has been deftly plagued by waste, fraud, abuse and corruption that holds no bounds. Former President Obama signed an Executive Order limiting 1033 and in August 2017 President Trump rolled that order back.  

We are, and have been, under siege. As my old teacher Amiri Baraka once said to a group of us after the LA Insurrection of 1992, “the slave-masters have been made to think we have been co-opted, and tricked and vilified and tricked into submission. Like we used to say in school, ‘fool em devil’… not only are Black people fighting back in LA, but Chicanos, Asians and Progressive White People as well. It is the multi-cultural, multi-national American people fighting back and it is the multi-national America that the government is most frightened of. Because when they see you there together, it brings fear down into the bottom of their feet.” 

Let’s keep them afraid, from their head to the bottom of their feet. In this feature I present the photographers that in some cases risked their own freedom, their well being and their expensive equipment to bring you these photos. In a time when even the documentation of reality can put you against the state, we must continue to flow within it. This is the most important work of our lives.

Jenae Lien is an artist based in L.A. She grew up overseas in Indonesia and Japan, and carries a B.A in Theatre Arts from LMU. Street photography is what inspired her to pursue photography as a career. She helps run These Streets magazine with fellow photographer friends. 

“For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been documenting the BLM protests in Los Angeles. From police cars on fire and tear gas to peaceful protests and solidarity. Photography has helped me understand the realities of the world we are living in, and the shifts and changes happening to our humanity. I firmly believe in the importance of documenting our history. Our time on this planet is minuscule in retrospect, so I hope to pass on images that define our time while I’m alive.”

Matthew Nordman is a photographer from El Centro, California, a Loyola Marymount alumni and a former SpaceX engineer. Currently he is focused on documentary, commercial, and fine art work. While mostly based out of Los Angeles, Nordman brings his camera wherever he travels. 

“On July 5th 2010, my high school friend Edmund “Bubba” Gutierrez was murdered by police and the cops were able to walk away free of charge. I feel a sense of responsibility to fight for the ones who’ve been taken by the hands of the police. I proudly stand In solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. My photos tell stories of police brutality and the pain of the people of color. The time for change Is now and we wont give up until we get justice.”

Mathieu Bitton, Grammy nominee and Leica camera ambassador, possesses a resume of photographic collaborations that reads like an eclectic Who’s Who of music history: Lenny Kravitz, Jack White, Prince, Ben Harper, Sting, Miles Davis, Marvin Gaye, Jane’s Addiction, Bob Marley, Quincy Jones, James Brown, George Clinton, Earth Wind & Fire, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Dolly Parton… In addition to shooting music icons, Bitton has photographed an array of entertainment legends including Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Sidney Potier and served as official photographer for comedian Dave Chappelle (most recently working on his latest Netflix special Sticks & Stones). Bitton is also committed to capturing compelling scenes and intimate portraits of everyday lives, and most recently, his most important work: protest photography. 

“There are defining moments in history that ask of everyone: 'which side are you on?’ The current uprising against centuries-long racism and oppression has clarified the line between those who will show up and fight for the dismantling of systemic racism and those who seek to uphold it.

I have prints available at bittonphoto.com with all proceeds donated to #BlackLivesMatter-related charities.”

Bil Brown is a photographer and cinematographer, writer and poet. A frequent contributor to FLAUNT, Bil has been documenting the rise of the protests since 2016’s election in both his documentary and editorial work and trying to make sense of these divisive times through consciousness, action, and awareness.

Kemal Cilengir is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of @streetwisela magazine. “I document Los Angeles. I walk the street religiously trying to expose every alley, avenue, and crack the sidewalks have to offer.”

“The last few weeks I witnessed events I hope I never have to see again. I dodged rubber bullets, was tear gassed, got hit in the head with a metal trash can and felt like I was in a war. I saw hundreds of peaceful protesters were pelted left and right, all while looters a few blocks away were allowed to go on looting for hours on end. I can honestly say that the police were the aggressors in almost all of these scenarios. Since the news did not do a good job of distinguishing between the two groups, there are peaceful protesters and looters. Looters took advantage of the peaceful protesters with their own agenda. Over the last week and a half the peaceful protests throughout Los Angeles and across the country have been beautiful. The protesting is working as proposals to cut funding and dismantle police departments were announced, but we can’t stop! Let’s turn the tens of thousands that came out over the weekend into a million by this weekend. We have momentum and with each passing day let’s keep building on that.” 

Michael Krim is a photographer and founder of PaperWork NYC and Community Service which collaborates with artists in a multidisciplinary platform to express their vision in both tangible and gallery-curated formats. 

“I don’t care if you said some racist shit in the past. That does not concern me. I care about right now. I care about how you are navigating your life for change. We live in a world where wild behavior gets praised, so praise the change that you are seeing in the streets. 2020 is giving everyone the factory reset option and the chance to be on the wrong or the right side of history. Pick your side and tread with love.”