Baltimore riots

Gray in Black & White

Gray in Black & White

43 Photos

I watched the Freddie Gray protests unfold with two different eyes. One eye kept a watch over editorial photos for the Baltimore City Paper and the other looked out for shots that would evoke the raw energy of the events best rendered in black and white.

Much like Magnum photographer Gilles Peress’ seminal work Telex Iran, my black and white photos are more about mood, anger, time, and rage stripped of color. I do not shoot zoom, which is to say that all my lenses are “prime” or fixed so I have to get close to the action to get these photos. Sometimes I get too close.

Many aren’t “sharp” or “crisp” and that’s the intention. To make the viewer feel them as if they were right there, in the battle zone, not as if they’re staring at perfect photos on a newspaper page. I’m posting the photos daily on a Tumblr called Gray in Black & White.

J.M. Giordano is the photo editor at Baltimore City Paper.

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The signs of the Baltimore protests

The signs of the Baltimore protests

53 Photos

Freddie Gray, 25, died on April 19 — a week after he was injured while being arrested by Baltimore police. Video of an arrest surfaced, and an investigation is under way. Throughout the week, thousands of protesters have marched through the city, holding signs calling for reform and justice. Follow our comprehensive Freddie Gray coverage here.

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Baltimore riots leave behind shattered remains

Baltimore riots leave behind shattered remains

33 Photos

Many businesses were affected by the rioting that took place in Baltimore on Monday, April 27, 2015. The next day volunteers and owners of the stores and bars with windows broken, items taken by looters, and property destroyed boarded up windows and cleaned up the mess. Others boarded up their stores in preparation for more possible rioting about the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.

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From the vault: Remembering Baltimore’s 1968 riots

From the vault: Remembering Baltimore’s 1968 riots

41 Photos

The Baltimore riot of April 1968 was a long Palm Sunday weekend of contrasts from Saturday through Tuesday, and it wiped out much of the downtown business district.

People went to church and people looted. People were curious or scared to death. They went outside looking for adventure or to calm things down.

The skies were a sunny blue in one direction and black with smoke in another. Hundreds of city and state police officers were deployed to limit destruction in East and West Baltimore. Many merchants decried the lack of police protection for businesses. The sky was blackened with the smoke of 800 fires in 72 hours.

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Baltimore and the Freddie Gray case

Baltimore and the Freddie Gray case

68 Photos

Freddie Gray, 25, died on April 19 — a week after he was injured while being arrested by Baltimore police. Video of the arrest surfaced, protests have broken out and an investigation into his death is under way.

And now, the city is reacting. Here’s a look at the protests around the city and the reaction from the neighborhood where Freddie Gray lived — Sandtown.

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