George Floyd Protests-2020

It was a torrid afternoon at the peak of the 2020 Covid19 shutdown. I hadn’t even lived in Chicago for a full year. It felt like the entire world was teetering on the point of a needle.

Everything I had known at this point was in the balance.

I remember arriving at my restaurant shift and being told to go home for my apparent safety; the city was shutting down and boarding up in anticipation for what was unfolding across our nation.

I walked wittingly back to my studio apartment and called my family.

Camera in hand, I turned right back around towards downtown. Helicopters encapsulated our skies; the sound is engrained in my memory. People were in masks marching by the thousands in the direction of our downtown.

Documenting this night felt like one of the most important things I’d ever do as a photographer.

I vividly remember the feeling in the air. I walked silently down the middle of Michigan Avenue at what was supposed to be rush hour. There wasn’t a car in sight. It was the chilling calm before the inevitable storm.