Loy Norrix High School is teeming with students filled to the brim with opinion and expression.
Many students have taken passionately to the Social Justice Movement that is sweeping our nation, sparked by the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Students have voiced their support in many different ways, ranging from demonstrations in the cafeteria, to various forms of art.
Junior, Isabelle Tavares took to photography as a display for her support. Her photos of the rally that took place downtown Kalamazoo on Nov. 24, 2014 were featured in the December Art Hop. Hearing about the protest from a friend, she decided that it was important to participate.
“I had never been a part of that kind of environment before,” Tavares explained, “It was extremely enlightening to hear different people speak out against racism in our own city.”
The photographs that she took were her way of sharing what she learned with people that were not at the rally. Tavares’ goal is to awaken people to problems in our society, saying that many people need to be broken out of the small bubbles that they live their lives in.
Tavares is inspired by Arnold Daniel, a photographer of people.
“His photos inspire me to capture humanities expressions and emotions,” Tavares described, “Photography needs to be of more than just flowers, but stuff that actually means something to me and other people.”
This inspiration is what led her to strive to become a photographer of current social events. The events taking place in our nation today are only a portion of what Tavares plans to cover.
“I’d like to cover events [through photography] in an unbiased way,” Tavares said, “that way people can be exposed [to injustice] while still creating their own opinions.”
Tavares plans to continue follow this movement as it makes its wave through Kalamazoo, using her photography as a tool to enlighten many. She is excited to see where her photography will take her and is gearing up for whatever it might bring.