Antifascism on the Fox

The recent "No Kings" rally in Oshkosh took place on Oshkosh Avenue just west of the bridge at Rainbow Park. Lest you think this is some kind of woke conspiracy, it was located here instead of downtown because the Main Street bridge is closed and this is the next busiest corridor on the way over the Fox. The park is named after the anti-imperialist monarchy 42nd (Rainbow) Division, who came from this neighborhood in World War I. (Wait a minute, weren't we allied with two imperialist monarchies?) Stretching two blocks on either side of the street makes it hard to capture the scale, and even with under-a-second exposures, the busy traffic disappears.

If you didn't bring a sign, there were plenty of odious policies of the current administration to choose from.

 

The No Kings branding was mostly adhered to, but there were also some familiar photographs of someone (with his friend) who has absolutist ambitions, judging by his decorating choices if nothing else.

Some pretty conservative values were being promoted. Winnebago Indivisible, the organizing group, had sent out a tip about blurring faces so people wouldn't get doxxed. I told this couple I wanted to show how dangerous we could appear, but it was OK if they stayed behind the signs. He insisted on being identifiable.

Warms my little Peacenik heart to see a folk group doing the big hits of the '50s and '60s civil rights movement.

I asked these officers if I could document the massive law enforcement presence. One responded, "We can handle it," and the other, "Nice turnout." They were the only police anywhere visible. They asked about the camera and I explained pinhole photography. Everyone recognized I was taking photographs, but no one else mentioned the box on the tripod.

Many people expressed some kind of identity politics. This guy's hat referenced his Navy veteran status and on his hoodie, a wish for the president.

My favorite accessories and pun of the day.

The demonstrators did have some military equipment. This veteran responded to my gesture to move where I could see his shirt and posed proudly. In addition to leading chants through his bullhorn (I played "Blowin' in the Wind" through a bullhorn at an anti-Vietnam War rally), he later drove up and down Oshkosh Avenue honking the truck's extremely loud horn, initially soliciting cheers from the crowd but everyone was glad when he quit.

In addition to the Stars and Stripes displayed everywhere, there was a lot of support for people of Mexican ethnicity.

Will historians remember how this movement was identified with inflatable costumes? I had been going down the sidewalk toward the Portland Frog and met it posing together with three other inflatables. Hopefully, this won't be interpreted as a leftist lie to increase the numbers. I accidentally opened both the axial and rising pinhole. The shaded signs they were holding in the upper image made a perfect screen for the lower image so it looks like they're carrying their own self portrait. Captures a little of the zaniness.

As things were ending, the chicken and unicorn came our way and recognized someone. After a very funny hugging session, they doffed the heads to reveal people you might not have expected this silliness from.

There were a lot of experiences too fast for pinhole. During all this, at a complicated intersection with a left-turn-only lane and several islands, traffic was continually heavy, always stopped at the lights in one of three places. The protestors were in surprisingly close contact with passengers, either waving and cheering or grimly facing ahead, frowning. Very little defense of the opposition. Nice to see all the photos taken with lenses posted in all sorts of media, but I worry watching you run around in traffic where nobody is supposed to be.

The camera was the American-made antifascist Diversity 30, hand-drilled .23mm pinholes on the axis and 11mm above it, 30mm from a 6x6cm frame. The film is American-made Kodak Gold, developed in Cinestill's C41 kit, mixed and packaged in America. 

For this rebellious roll, I used The Force to determine exposures.