Steve Ryan Photography

May 1st 2009. My first riot. I was a little disappointed that I was only getting to my first one at this age, but I was also a little disappointed with how tame it was. Sure there were bottles, bricks and fireworks flying through the air and crashing around me, but also there were a ton of photographers and tourists on the sidelines. A street away people were still sitting outside coffee shops, cleaning up after their dogs and calling their kids in for dinner.

We hung out in the middle of the protesters for the duration of the show while they threw what they could. We ran with them when the cops chased them like a wussy game of British Bulldog. I have to say, the police were a lot cooler. In admitting that, I’m probably showing my age, but that’s something I’m cool with. I’m also cool with the fact that although they made the occasional good point in their demonstration against Capitalism, they failed to thank it for providing them with the microphones, PA, & truck-trailer combo they were using.

Anyway that’s not the point of this post. I made some photographs:

There always has to be a topless guy.

The cheerleader on the right is my favorite.