The Shame of It All

A while back, I posted an infrared shot of the Robert E. Lee Memorial -- now Black Lives Matter protest site -- in Richmond, Virginia. I was asked if I had any color shots, and I did shoot some film captures of the site in Metropolis Lomochrome, which has a dystopian apocalyptic look. Here are those shots as well as one color shot and the original infrared. I will also repost the caption detailing the site below. The Robert E. Lee Memorial is the last standing Confederate statue on Monument Drive due to its registration as a National Historic Site. Now it is also a Black Lives Matter protest site with the city of Richmond allowing protestors to add their feelings to the statue. Tributes to African Americans slain by police ring the statue. The New York Times called it the most important piece of protest art in America since World War II. More than anything though this site shows me the shame of America's Original Sin, that of slavery and continued oppression of African Americans. Lee's tarnished legacy lives on in MAGA America, populated on the fringe by White Supremacists. You can even see it in this statue. Notice the clean corner facing the camera in the infrared and full-color shot. White supremacists snuck onto the grounds in the middle of the night and painted over the graffiti. One of the protestors shrugged it off and just said it was a new canvas. That is this shameful story. No matter how much we protest, no matter how many generations stand against tyranny and hate, the shame of white supremacy rises again in America. #blacklivesmatter

More photos by geoffliving