This project was inspired by the police killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I created 42” x 42” prints of 20 victims of police violence and framed them in black to honor their passing. I pixillated the portraits and names with the intent that they be viewed from a distance in order for the images to come into focus. In contrast to this, the hand-written stories of these individuals require the viewer to stand next to the work in order to read these compelling and intimate narratives.

I imposed this dichotomy to illustrate how these tragic stories need to be examined from all perspectives.

MALIBU TIMES

Local Malibu photographer Eric Myer led a protest of around 10 people on Saturday, Sept. 5, during which participants waved posters that Myer had created depicting Black Americans who had been killed by police. The protest, which involved waiving the posters at passing traffic, took place near the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Webb Way.

Some of those depicted on the posters included Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT and aspiring nurse whose March 2020 death in her own home at the hands of police triggered national outcry earlier this summer, and Mitrice Richardson, a 24-year-old dancer and executive assistant who disappeared in the Malibu area in 2009 after being released from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station with no cell phone or wallet after nightfall.

Myer originally displayed the posters on the chain link fence by the chili cook-off site on Friday, Sept. 4, but they were taken down within an hour by city officials who said city laws prevented any type of signage from being posted on city property, including the chili cook-off lot which was purchased by the city last year. Myer was told he may stand and protest instead, which led him to gather a small crew for his Saturday demonstration.

Myer is an award-winning photographer who is perhaps best known in Malibu for his photo essay “Malibu After,” which documented the effects of the Woolsey Fire by photographing Malibu residents standing among the remains of their burned-down homes.