Shoot the People

- There has been another shooting,

this time in Las Vegas.

You can see police here,

now firing tear gas into the crowd.

- Migrants crossing the Southern US border

are once again reaching record levels.

Europe's migrant crisis.

Both sides.

- The deputy prime minister describes it as an invasion.

- It's our country, and we are getting pushed out.

I understand how the Native Indians felt in America.

Build that wall.

Build that wall.

- When I look around what is happening today,

it's hard not to feel helpless.

- This is the darkest hour for Europe since World War II.

- I've never known a time when humans have been more divided.

It seems as though we're heading towards something

truly catastrophic.

- Protests turning violent as rioters set fire to a police car

and destroyed downtown streets.

- And chanting things like, burn it down.

- Protesters and counter-protesters

were attacking each other.

It was complete and utter chaos.

- What am I to tell my son when he grows up?

I don't have faith in anything here anymore.

- If history teaches us anything,

when humanity has been confronted

by a big challenge or a big injustice,

those struggles only move forward

if large numbers of ordinary people stand up and say,

enough is enough, and no more.

We are sick and tired of this.

We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

- Protests are a political statement.

Protests are a wake-up call.

- We shouldn't deny that we're in a really dark moment

for humanity.

Treason! Treason! Treason!

He wanted the war.

They were going to give you the war.

- I think the revolution should be televised.

I think the revolution should always be documented

so that we know that the rights and privileges we enjoy today

were not always present.

- The images of people protesting

help people see that they're not alone

in being frustrated with the way things are.

Misan's work does two ends of that,

demonstrating the injustice

and suggesting the possibility of an alternative.

- Misan is able to capture the complexity

of social protests of racism in a way that's also beautiful.

That's the power of art to expand our imagination,

to say another world is possible

and we have the power to change things.

- This is on 90, so it's kind of-- almost up your nostrils.

- Your energy changes when you're behind the camera.

Oh, completely.

I get into a trance-like thing. Completely.

You could travel the world with this thing

and just bear witness.

I fell in love with the camera late.

I do what I love, my work,

which is observing the human condition,

and making art that has purpose is also my passion.

I do portraiture in the form of the protest images,

but then the kind of celeb portraiture

that people also know me for.

The attention economics of today's internet-connected world

is something I understand. I would not be here today

if it wasn't for putting my images online, on social media,

and it's changed my life completely.

Hey, it's me. Hey. Hey. Hey.

I wanted to make a quick video.

When I take a picture, and I put it out into the internet,

and I see millions of people be deeply moved by it, that, to me,

is something I'm very proud of.

- When the Black Lives Matter protests

began in London last summer, one photographer,

with his intimate black and white reportage style,

captured the mood of the unfolding events like no other.

Born in Nigeria but raised in the UK, where he developed

a lifelong love of the arts from an early age,

Misan Harriman's work behind the camera,

inspired by photographers

including Gordon Parks and Eve Arnold,

is entirely self-taught.

Now, imagine going from being an amateur photographer

to shooting the cover of Vogue in just three years.

- Earlier this week, I spoke to the editor of British Vogue.

The cover was shot by Misan Harriman,

the first Black photographer

to shoot the front of the September issue.

- I remember all these moments before taking these images

and how nervous I was or excited I was.

All this is part of the journey.

- You're quite an anomaly, sadly.

Sadly, yeah.

I've somehow managed

to tiptoe around the minefield

of being a visible voice and a Black voice

in a Britain that usually allows a very specific type of noise

to come out of the mouths of someone

that has the same hue as me.

And somehow, I've been quite loud

and able to function in a society

that doesn't usually accept that.

There has been an evolution to my whole being.

Every few months, I feel like I'm a different person.

As an activist, you start off very scared

because you don't realize there are more than a few people

that feel the same way as you do.

And now I know there are millions of people,

so it gives me the confidence to be better at what I do

and learn and learn and learn.

- Remember, we're here with the turn.

- Free! Free! - Palestine!

- Free! Free! - Palestine!

- Free! Free! - Palestine!

1, 2, 3, 4!

Occupation no more!

5, 6, 7, 8!

Israel is a terrorist state.

Early doors at Bank Station

for the beginning of what I think is going to be

the biggest protest ever for ceasefire in London.

-Ceasefire! - What do we want?

Ceasefire!

- When do we want it? - Now!

What do we want?

- I believe in the network effect

of solidarity, empathy.

I believe that it's infectious.

The osmosis of activism is real.

I'm not a world leader.

I'm not a politician,

but this is how I play my part.

And a lot of the times...

I'll say 10% of my time is actual taking photographs.

The rest is just being in it, you know?

I follow you on Instagram.

You seem to use your voice quite a lot on Instagram,

and I'm here for it. I'm here for every second of it.

Hey. Thank you.

- What do we want? - Ceasefire!

- When do we want it? - Now!

- What do we want? - Ceasefire!

- When do we want it? - Now!

- What do we want? - Nice to meet you.

- Someone to follow on Instagram.

Okay. The chocolate bar or--

Second time?

Everything, everything.

Can we get a picture?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Is that all right? - Yeah.

Excuse me.

Thank you. Oh, hold on. Hold on. Hold on.

You're too fast. You're too fast.

Can't keep up. One more, one more.

It feels like a Michael Mann movie.

- Hey. - Right.

Yeah. You guys look good.

Looking Hollywood.

Oh, my lord.

Do you mind if I-- Is that okay?

Thank you.

For me, there's nothing more important than the people,

so I'm just waiting for them to walk past me

and seeing if any signs, faces, feelings, emotions speak to me.

And-- Ooh.

Sorry.

Sorry. That sign is just extraordinary.

Do you mind if I-- Yeah.

Oh, wow. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

- Every time the government is not listening,

your voice grows louder.

This is the power of the people.

I show all of these movements,

and they have a way of fizzling out.

This one isn't, at all.

And it's becoming harder and harder to ignore,

and that is the whole reason to protest.

If our leaders won't do anything,

the people will hold them to account on the streets.

It's a very powerful thing.

Ceasefire now!

Ceasefire now!

Ceasefire now!

Ceasefire now!

Ceasefire now!

- Hey, so I've left them, the protests.

I did some photography,

and what I saw were families coming out,

people that worship different gods,

that have different lived experiences,

that are trying to figure out a way