18th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Mobile
An innocent protestor braces for what might come next.

I was documenting the most recent Black Lives Matter and police brutality protests in Los Angeles, CA and I was able to capture a few surreal moments. I was riding my bike near the front and happened to see a protestor by himself near the front ahead of the organized crowd. The man was approaching the police and the other protestors were screaming at the police to put their guns down while the man just stood there prepared to be shot and didn't care. I have never seen anything like it in my life. A man, literally doing nothing to agitate police, bracing and expecting to be shot at with rubber bullets. The indecisiveness, fear and anxiety is portrayed by each policeman in a different state of awareness as a fully aware black man is bracing for something he expects to happen.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 06.2020
Date Uploaded: 08.2020
Photo Location: Los Angeles, California, United States of America
Copyright: © Brett David Stelter