Bil Brown

©Bil Brown

Bil Brown
THIS IS VERY BAD, 2016
Archival Pigment on Hahnamule Paper
20 x 24
$2,500

©Per Bernal

“It was the day after the announcement of the 2016 Presidential elections. We live in Downtown LA, so we went to the street with many others, starting at the courthouse and then the anger and sadness protesting the election, what had happened to us all. We went from eight years of hope to a sense of “no hope” no normalcy of so many different people’s hopes and dreams. The best response I saw was in the tunnel, a tunnel that the LAPD would block on both sides. My wife and I had our daughter in her stroller, we had met up with some friends. I had my camera.
 
My first thought was, “this is bad, this is very bad” trapped in a tunnel with the police on both sides. Would they notice a concerned citizen, a young family, or would they just start pushing back? Would there be riot gear, would there be tear gas, would they use flash grenades to a peaceful protest? What was I personally going to do about it?
 
Then I saw this young person raise the sign in front of us, “THIS IS VERY BAD.” and it was, it still is. This is very bad. What can we do? Four years later, almost, the election hasn’t happened… I can think of one thing. I know before Nov 7, 2016 we didn’t have to say: THIS IS VERY BAD. Did we? Can we see the light at the end of the tunnel?”