Images taken of unrest following Freddie Gray's death on display at Baltimore's Creative Alliance
Photos taken from Baltimore protests 10 years ago live to tell the story of unrest following the arrest and death of Freddie Gray. Some of those images are on display in an exhibit at the Creative Alliance Theatre in East Baltimore.
The death of Gray, who suffered a fatal spinal injury while being transported in the back of a police van in April 2015, sparked outrage and unrest in Baltimore and protests across the country.
The Creative Alliance will host a discussion with the artists on Wednesday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m.
The last day of the exhibit is this Saturday, April 19.
Artists recall taking photos during protests
West Baltimore native and artist Devin Allen can recount memories from each shot he took during the days of unrest in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray.
Each frame shares just a piece of the story behind the protests after Gray's arrest.
"So I'm shooting this and he runs past me, and I'm like, 'Where's he going?'" Allen said. "The goal was to control the narrative."
Allen's images garnered national attention, gracing the cover of Time Magazine. He started photography a couple of years prior and joined several other photographers to capture the calls for justice.
"I took my little camera with WiFi, and the goal was to do what Gordon Parks did, and so many other artists did before me, tell our story in an honest way," Allen said.
Joe Giordano worked for the Baltimore City Paper as a photo editor during the unrest following Gray's death.
He stood in the middle of peaceful protests and tense moments.
At one point, a cellphone video captured Giordano being beaten by Baltimore City police officers.
"When Freddie Gray died and the city kind of like rose up, it was like the kettle had boiled over," Giordano said. "I did my job, they did theirs. And I got back up the next day and went back to work."
Freddie Gray protest images are up for public viewing
Stories captured through film are now on display inside an exhibit at East Baltimore's Creative Alliance Theater -- a documentary by Paul Abowd, photos of daily protests taken by Allen, and portraits of six community activists taken five years after Freddie Gray's death.
"Each individual is a different part of that activist scene," Giordano said.
Giordano says these pictures remind him of their resilience.
"Makayla, she was on, I mean, the front lines," Giordano said. "A lot of this wouldn't have been done without Shorty. He's a big organizer. Kevin Moore is the one who took the original Freddie Gray arrest video."
With a quick phone scan, you can hear their stories through interviews conducted by Giordano.
"I really want you to listen to them talk and hopefully maybe build some empathy," Giordano said. "The death of Freddie Gray is, kind of, what polarized the city."
As the exhibit comes to a close, Allen hopes people feel the emotions he and many others felt 10 years ago. Most importantly, he hopes all walk away inspired.
"I want people to leave angry, I want you to feel frustrated, but I also want you to leave a little bit lighter knowing that you do have a skill somewhere in you that you can lend to the people, definitely in these times," Allen said.
