Tag: Mark Clennon

Clennon, who is thirty-two years old and works as an editorial and commercial photographer (he took behind-the-scenes photos for Ava DuVernay’s Netflix series about the Central Park Five, “When They See Us”), has attended various other protests, including the many Black Lives Matter marches in New York in recent years. But the ones these past weeks have been different. At the memorial, he was conscious of the helicopters overhead and of rows of police officers watching the gathering from nearby rooftops. This was the first time that he felt unsafe. As a black man, Clennon faces a disproportionate risk of experiencing violence at the hands of law enforcement. But he feels that his camera offers at least some protection. At a protest during the past weekend, he had been in a confrontation with police; three of the friends he was with were arrested, but he was allowed to leave. “We are all black,” he said. “The only difference was I had my camera.”