Today is game day we're in Washington D.C. for The Commitment March.
We flew in from L.A. to be here and to photograph, document it, so
no idea what to expect, just ready for anything really.
It's gonna be crazy today, this is really history.
As a photographer, when I'm in Washington, I want to capture a true story.
I want to show all the positive things that are happening, the strength and the love,
the things that bring us together rather than separate us
and maybe shed some light on that part of the story.
"No justice, no peace!, No justice, no peace!, No justice, no peace!"
"You know, Martin Luther King stood here 57 years ago."
"We know as a nation, we can do better."
Photography, it could be so many things to so many people .
For me, it's a creative outlet.
It's a passport that can take me places.
It's even a career path.
But at its core, I think of photography as a voice,
and my camera is like a microphone.
And I can tell the world exactly what I see and how I see it.
My name is Jay Ford and I'm a photographer and filmmaker.
Just exactly how you're standing and kinda of just gave me some attitude, we can kind
of work the hips a little bit.
Oh yeah there it is.
As a portrait photographer and filmmaker I love working in Cali,
the locations, the people, the opportunity.
Today we're doing a high fashion editorial shoot in the studio
and we have a special guest, it's Cassie Fine.
Looks kind of like a players club vibe.
What we're going for today is high fashion, so that Vogue, Bizarre type of look.
Just look right at at me, perfect .
Photography for me is really just self-expression,
so whether I'm working in the studio or I'm traveling or I'm at a protest,
at its most basic, I'm looking to capture the same thing.
So I think this composition will be amazing,
the sun is coming a little bit so we have to be mindful of that.
I'm looking through a lens to capture something that only I see,
to capture a moment or feeling that's unique to my perspective.
...half step to your left. And work this part out a little bit more.
This is the fun part, I really get to get in my bag and get creative so,
I'm excited.
Just like that, don't be afraid to kind of close your eyes.
I photograph a wide range of subject matter
but if there is one constant in my pictures, it's people.
And the process of finding those moments,
being engaged and immersed in who and what I'm shooting,
that's what I really love.
For me, that's the only way to really express emotion and tell a story.
And that's all I'm really trying to do.
I think this is the best part. I like this one
but that red and black with the red and black pillows, you can't beat that.
Right now we're right next to Palmdale High School.
I've been coming around here since I was about 5 or 6 years old.
This is the football field right over here.
Football was my thing, so this is where it all used to happen for me growing up as a kid.
Photography and film play such a big role in my life these days
but growing up it was all about sports.
Football was my real passion.
Being here 6:30 in the morning to the end of practice 7:30 at night,
I literally used to see my coaches more than my family, so this was home for me.
I started playing when I was 7
and eventually I became a division one athlete and went to Northern Arizona University on scholarship.
I saw football as my path to success.
And in Black culture that's so typical because so many of our role models are athletes and entertainers.
And unfortunately to make it pro, that's kind of the end-all be-all.
But as things turned out I ended up getting hurt to where I couldn't play football anymore.
That was a definite turning point in my life. I had to refocus everything
and figure out what I wanted to do with my life.
But I was fortunate in that I had something to turn to.
All right coach, I'll catch you later, appreciate it.
Playing at a high level in football transfers to anything you want in life.
My big goal was always just to win, the next rep, win the next game,
and then to win and go on to college
and I always had that higher goal to get me to the next level and same thing goes for photography.
If there's one lesson I learned from leaving football
it was that there is no written path, there are no sure things,
so you need to learn to adapt, chase your intuition, be spontaneous
and be willing to push yourself into new and sometimes uncomfortable situations.
I'm kind of getting the chills right now walking down the street,
this is actually my first time being here since the protest and everything happened.
2020 was obviously a crazy year with the pandemic and then the Black Lives Matter movement starting.
This is Fairfax and Beverly,
this pretty much was the epicenter of where all the things happened as far
as the protests slash riots.
The reason why we came here the day of the protest is because we saw smoke in the air.
This whole street was filled from curb to curb
and as you look up in the sky you just see people's signs with "no justice no peace".
For me seeing people across the country rise up,
join in arms to say no, this isn't right and it can't continue,
as a Black man who lives that experience, that was inspiring, it was powerful and i just felt like I needed to be a part of it.
And as a photographer, I couldn't think of a more appropriate time to capture and share that struggle.
This is where the cops started shooting the protesters with rubber bullets,
so it went from thousands of people on the street to everybody just scattering.
There was so many people but with my camera it allowed me to get to the very front.
There was a point, I didn't want to take pictures anymore, I just wanted to be part of the people.
To be out there with my camera and to show what is actually going on, good, bad and the ugly,
and to be in the front lines and to be with the people,
I think that's a powerful moment for anybody.
We can even show some shoulder.
I love it, I love it right there
After football I'm not sure what I would have done if I didn't have photography.
Looking back, my interest in photography started pretty young and my dad was a big part of that.
He always had a camera and was taking pictures of our family our lives
and being exposed to that, I naturally picked up the camera too.
Growing up as a kid I used to take pictures of the varsity football team and try to sell it back to the players.
I'd do photo shoots of my friends, I'd make football highlight videos
and that continued through high school and into college.
I took classes, took on photo and video projects.
That early exposure to the camera planted a seed and
allowed me to grow in other ways outside of athletics.
So when that change in my life came
I had this passion on the side and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
I'm heading to D.C. tomorrow,
packing things up, making sure I have everything set , my camera, my clothes.
So that when I do get there, I can just focus on the moment and the experience.
When I heard about the march in D.C.
I immediately knew it was something that I needed to be a part of.
One of the things I love about photography is the freedom that it brings.
It definitely opened doors for me after football
and it continues to reveal new places, people, experiences.
My boy, what's a good bro?
Are you ready? Ready for Friday?
Oh yeah, let's do it man.
My dad always told me, every hero needs a place to where his story is told
and we're at this historic site, Lincoln Memorial right now.
We're on the eve of the 57th anniversary of the civil rights, I Have a Dream speech.
It has an emotional feeling and it's so surreal just to be here.
I'm excited to capture the emotion of everybody,
this place tomorrow, it's going to be filled with thousands and thousands of people.
"We are like butterflies, because butterflies only have two options"
"they crawl and then they fly!"
"and we understand in this hour, this is the hour for Black people to fly"
"Hands up, dont shoot!"
"We're gonna hold court today, we're gonna hold court"
"What's his name? George Floyd!, what's his name? George Floyd!"
"We are built for this moment,"
"we are on the shoulders of giants but we must step off those shoulders and lead ourselves"
"No justice! no peace!"
I find that through photography, I learn a lot about myself.
I've come to realize that I look for feeling and emotion because
I'm drawn to those things naturally
and being in Washington just strengthened that feeling.
I have a curiosity about the world and the people in it, their stories, their struggles.
I'm looking forward to where this path leads me
and see what can come from following my passions and my heart.
And along the way, maybe
give some exposure to other paths and possibilities for others like myself.
I create with the idea that I may not be able to change the world
but, I may be able to change one person's ideas about the world
and that's enough for me.
I'm Jay Ford and I'm a photographer.