Los Angeles, CA – 2017

Attendees of an anti-ICE protest march en masse to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal prison in downtown Los Angeles. Many of those marching did so in support of friends and family who had been detained during raids conducted by ICE ‘Enforcement and Removal Operations’ which had swept across Los Angeles. Upon reaching the prison, an imposing concrete monolith just several blocks from the Arts District, rudimentary visual communication was established with the detainees held within and the repetitive cacophony of political chants was swiftly replaced with cries of pain, anger and despair.

Whitford translates imagery to language in this piece, as the viewer can truly get a sense of what’s being shouted without ever hearing it. This is a powerful moment in time, exhibiting contemporary issues in politics, human rights, and immigration, and how these idealisms can be fought for communally. Humanity exhibits many forms of social justice issues and how we as people react to and contribute to them, and this photograph manages to encapsulate both of these ideas.