Selma-to-Montgomery March for Voting Rights in 1965 by James Karales
Ksenia Gaevskaya and Anna Kruglova
A violent attack during the first of the Selma to Montgomery marches in Alabama, United States. It was a very important and notorious event in the history of the USA. Though it is not the thing that the nation can be proud of, but people can respect those who struggled for their rights, for their dreams.
This event was reflected by photographer James Karales .He was born on July 15, 1930, in Canton, Ohio. He didn’t dream to become a photographer in his childhood ,his desire was to become an electrical engineer. He entered Ohio University and there he shared a room with a student who was interested in photography.This event determined his further occupation. He graduated the university with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1955.After it he started to work at Magnum photo agency in New York as a darkroom assistant to the master photographer W. Eugene Smith. After his time with Smith, Mr. Karales documented life in Rendville, Ohio, a mining town that was one of the few integrated communities in America in the late 1950's.Karales presented his photosto Edward Steichen, director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York .He bought two of the images for that museum's collection. His first solo exhibition in 1958 was made from his Rendville pictures at the Greenwich Village gallery, Limelight. Thanks to those , which attracted the attention of Look's photography editor ,he got his job in Look magazine. He documented pivotal events of that tumultuous era, notably the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War.When Look closed Mr. Karales became a freelance photographer. Unlike other noted photojournalists of his era, Mr. Karales's works remain almost unknown, except for his photo made in 1965 in Selma . ( Loke)
In 1965 in Selma, Alabama a serious problem lurked among the community-only two percent of Selma's eligible African-American citizens were registered to vote. Selma faced the same problem as many other towns in Alabama and other southern states at that time. African-American citizens were denied access to the polls. After the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African-Americans in many southern states still were denied access to registration booths and polls by state officials of all levels. In his sermon at Brown Chapel, Dr. King inspired his listeners to rise up against the oppression and take what was rightfully theirs-the right to vote. Dr. King organized several marches from Selma to Montgomery. On March 7, 1965, 525 to 600 civil rights marchers headed east out of Selma on U.S. Highway 80. The protest went smoothly until the marchers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge and found a wall of state troopers waiting for them on the other side. Their commanding officer told the demonstrators to disband at once and go home. Hosea William (the civil rights leader) tried to speak to the officer, but the man curtly informed him there was nothing to discuss. Seconds later, the troopers began shoving the demonstrators. Many were knocked to the ground and beaten with nightsticks. Another detachment of troopers fired tear gas. Mounted troopers charged the crowd on horseback. Seventeen marchers were hospitalized. That day got the name "Bloody Sunday". As a result of these marches the president Johnson presented a bill to Congress that became the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Act grants federal intervention on state agencies and officials who attempt to prohibit eligible citizens from registering and going to the polls. Mr Karales perpetuated this event on the photo (“Selma to Montgomery March”).
This photo is one of the most famous works of this photographer. It was made as a part of photo report of the protest march in Selma. The photo is black and white as there were no colour cameras at that time, in 1965. But the viewer can easily imagine the colours: white shirts and black trousers of Afro-Americans, white, blue and red of national American flag, the green grass and dark clouds on the blue sky. During that march in Selma Mr.Karales has made some other photos, which are less famous, but also very emotional.
At first glance this photo may seem just an interesting photo, but for sure no one can stay indifferent to it. Even if a person knows nothing about this event and where these people were going, he can see how serious these people are, how confident their steps are, how they are inspired by their march.
The composition of the photo is unusual. Mr. Karales photographed this column of people not straight, but from a little angle and on diagonal. He situated his camera lower on the holm, where people were marching, and because of it there is an effect that people are climbing the holm. It is important to mention that a great role on this photo the clouds play. The viewer can understand that it is going to be a thunderstorm, and this natural disaster is like a sign of the following human catastrophe. Nobody knew what the end of this march would be. There are no smiles on people faces, there is no feeling of happiness, but the viewer can feel the confidence, the determination of people, their desire to get what they want. They are not armed, because they do not want war or to shed one’s blood. They believe in equal rights to everybody, they believe in justice. They want to be the equal to others and they want to have a right to vote. One of them is holding the flag of America, the symbol of freedom, equality and the American dream. All these people have also a dream, but the price that they paid for their dream is really high. There are hundreds of people, participated in that march; they are all a part of a great nation. They feel it, that’s why they are holding the flag of this country and they want others to understand it.
We decided to choose this picture as the genre of photo is one of the most powerful and ‘speaking’. Photos can reveal all the emotions of a person on the picture. It can create the atmosphere of the event. It is like the time stopped just for a moment. Sometimes, looking at the best examples of the photographing art a person can feel a wide range of the emotions: beginning with the joy up to the despair and pain.
Works Cited
Margarette Loke. “James Karales Photographer of social upheal dies at 71.” The New York Times.April 05, 2002. www.nytimes.com. 28.04.11
”Selma to Montgomery March: Voting is one of the most valuable rights of a U.S. citizen.”
Essortment.Still, African-Americans have fought a hard battle for voting rights. www.essortment.com/selma-montgomery-march-60851.html. 28.04.11
