Photographers of the LA Riots

Linked below is an article titled “What Photographers of the LA Riots Really Saw behind The Lens” which includes accounts from both former and current Los Angeles Times photographers who captured some of the most iconic images during the 1992 LA riots. The significance of this article lies in the unnerving stories the photographers have behind the shots that they were able to capture. Kirk McKoy, the photographer behind the image named “A Huggies Run” which depicts a man running past a burning market with a shopping cart full of Huggies diapers, describes in detail an instance in which he was held at gun-point. He recounts how the armed man was not happy with McKoy seemingly taking a photo of him. One quote from the article that struck me as important was “It’s hard to imagine keeping your wits about you when the city around you is on fire,” which puts into perspective the conditions that the photographers were working through.

Dangerous interactions such as the ones faced by McKoy weren’t uncommon for these photographers who learned to be cautious in order to capture the chaos that unfolded before their eyes. Another important aspect to this article is that the photographers explained why they risked their lives in order to photograph the riots. For Hyungwon Kang, his goal was to contextualize what Korean-American shop owners were suffering through as their shops were targeted by rioters. Kang used his camera as a tool to capture the “fear and upheaval.” One of the photographs he captured depicts two Korean store owners with guns defending their property when gunfire breaks out. Overall, this article gave me further insight on what the photographers on the ground during the LA Riots witnessed and experienced. It also helped me understand that the reason why these photographers risked their lives in order to capture these images was to shed more light on the racial conflict and violence. 

-Dante Luis-Brown 

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/photographers-los-angeles-riots_us_5902c4ffe4b02655f83b5a86