Documentary Photography #3

As I mentioned in the previous post, there are several ways that the photo, “new labour” brings up the idea of defiance and resistance. You would need to understand the history and background of this photo to get the true meaning behind the picture. Obviously there is something wrong in this picture. Something out of the ordinary is happening. People have flooded the streets and there is something that is obscure about the fact that there are two enormous arrows pointing in the opposite direction of the large crowd.

Police said that in February of 2003, the biggest demonstration of protesters in the history of London took to the streets to shows their anti-war feelings. (BBC) Europe in general was incredibly upset with the Iraq war. “New labour” was taken in London, England in April of 2003. At the time, the governing party in was called “The Labour Party,” which explains the pun in the title of the photograph “new labour.” It was taken right in the heat of the invasion of Iraq, which was led by The United States of America, but was backed by British forces. (Wikipedia)
Although the United States was the main force in this war with 248,000 troops, Great Britain had the second most with 45,000. The leaders of these nations claimed that the reason for the war was “to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein’s support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people.” Opinion polls taken in Spain and Italy revealed that upwards of 90% of the population opposed the war. In London, it is estimated that between one and two million people marched in the streets to protest the war in April. There were over 600 cities across the world that marched during the time of invasion, which The Guinness Book of World Records estimates as the largest mass protest movement in history. (Wikipedia)

It wasn’t just a few countries whose citizens turned out to show endorse the protest of the Iraq war. According to Dominique Reynie, a French academic, between January 3 and April 12 of 2003, thirty six million people worldwide took part in around three thousand protests.

Works Cited

"BBC News World Edition." 'Million' March Against Iraq War. 16/Feb/2003. BBC, Web. 30 Sep 2009.

"Protests Against The Iraq War." Wikipedia. 2009. Web. .