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Facing Occupy

This filmmaker shows protesters faces. Literally. And the effect is moving. 

 

Lorraine Murphy

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Posted on Dec 1, 2011   Updated on Jun 3, 2021, 12:43 am CDT

What does a hive mind look like?

Filmmaker Ian MacKenzie has taken his camera into the heart of Occupy Vancouver, and straight into the faces of the protesters in an extreme close-up attempt to re-humanize the ragged and anarchic collective.

“This is a call to see each other as HUMAN once again.”

The global Occupy Movement is both frustratingly amorphous and hyper-specific. Here, MacKenzie’s quiet examination of the individuals who compose the movement in this particular place and time echos famous fashion photographer Richard Avedon’s series In the American West; in these still moments before the camera, each individual’s simple humanity is revealed and as the video progresses, the accumulation of images, of personalities, of human beings, begins to change our understanding of the collective.

The video was just posted so comments were sparse. But judging by the few posted, the video is being received well.

“soooooooo very very powerful and free-ing…this is the world I want to create….love to you all, thank you Ian for this profound message, thank you for the tears in my eyes,” posted earthecstatic.

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*First Published: Dec 1, 2011, 6:12 pm CST