Protect Each Other

I took this photograph at the end of the Women’s March in January 2017.

Throughout the afternoon, I had stood among the crowd, capturing the event. It was a large peaceful protest organized by my friend and writing colleague Liz Radford, whose paintings we captured last year.

I photographed hundreds of images that afternoon. But when I think back on that day and that event, there’s only one I remember: a soft, slightly blurry image from the end of the event.

The sun had set, and I was packing my gear, putting camera and lenses away, when I saw a woman standing at a little farther away from everyone else, at the back of the crowd. She carried flowers and wore flowers wrapped around her head. The sign she held bore no militant slogans, catchy graphics, or clever phrases on it. It was a hand-painted sign with a clear message in three words: Protect each other.

I took my camera back out of the bag where I’d stowed it and moved to the back of the crowd where she stood. I asked if I might take her picture. She said sure. She held her sign, expression peaceful, serene. I took the picture, thanked her, put away my camera, and went home.

I don’t know that I can accurately state in words why this gesture, and this image, resonated as it did. I think it was for the clarity of the message, simply stated. Nearly ten years later, it seems even more prescient, relevant, and actionable than any other.

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Steven Townshend is a fine art/portrait photographer and writer with a background in theatre, written narrative, and award-winning game design. As a young artist, Steven toured the US and Canada performing in Shakespeare companies while journaling their moments on paper and film. In his transition from stage to page, Steven continued to work as a theatre photographer, capturing dramatic scenes while incorporating elements of costume, makeup, and theatrical lighting in his work. Drawn to stories set in other times and places, Steven creates works through which fellow dreamers and time travelers might examine their own humanity or find familiar comfort in the reflections of the people and places of a distant era.