Burke & Atwell, Suffragists protest, 1916/Photo: Burke & Atwell

As long as there have been protests, there have been photographers capturing the action firsthand. Denise Keim, the director and curator of CCPJ, a photojournalist herself, has pulled together the work of over fifty photojournalists from across the globe to create this remarkable show. In addition, Keim reached into the Library of Congress’ impressive collection of public domain images and printed some of the historic protests reaching back to the first photographed protest gathering in U.S. history of a 1913 street blocking parade in Washington, D.C. and a Suffragist march in Chicago in 1916 by Burke & Atwell of women protesting President Wilson’s lack of support for their movement, among others.

A fight erupts shortly after a group carrying Nazi signs arrived at the Federal Building, the trial site for the eight men accused of inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. (Sun-Times photo by Bob Black)

There are some truly outstanding images in this large group—a shot of an altercation at the 1968 DNC in Chicago by much awarded photographer Bob Black and by equally celebrated Michael Bracey, a color image of a “lie-in” from 2014. Some images are fresh and painful—Andres Chavez captured a Palestinian protest on Grant Park from below, the protesters looming large and frightening above him with flags and a large placard showing Netanyahu in a faux mug shot emblazoned with “Wanted for Genocide.” One of the few women to submit work, Anna Sparks from Seattle, shows two people discussing the protest, one nearly in tears, her hands in a gesture that asks, “what do we do now?” Beside them, a poster declares, “No Justice, No Peace, No Racist Police!”

There are some socially conscious works as well as political—Joseph Heathcott captured a colorful climate-change demonstration in Paris in 2019, and J. Matt for Zuma Press in Los Angeles shot a protest aimed at systemic change and lack of farsighted thinking in education with placards covered in slogans like “Act now or Swim Later,” and “I’ve seen smarter cabinets at IKEA,” as well as posters in French and Norwegian. A stunning image by Kameron Smith, made in D.C. on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech shows the battered windshield of a Secret Service car, half draped in a black cloth with the legend, “Stop Pretending Your Racism is Patriotism!” A man in jeans stands atop the car.

Michael Bracey, a “lie-in” in 2014/Photo: Michael Bracey

Keim created a way to hang the massive number of works, specifically for this show, that could not be more perfect. In a gallery that usually has meticulously framed images, hanging with plenty of airspace between, this cable and clips method, with images hanging three and four rows high, is far more appropriate to the subject and gives the work an immediacy that frames and mats would never provide. There is a thread running all the way from the first, public domain images to the most recent captures. The constitution, in fact most democratic constitutions, support the right of assembly, and the more than seventy images in this riveting exhibition are witness to the fact that as long as there are issues, there will be people protesting.

“In Protest: Global Activism” at Chicago Center for Photojournalism, 1226 West Wilson, through December 2.