Getty photographer shares his account of covering unrest, protests in Ferguson, MO

 

 

One of the most high-profile news stories of 2014 was the shooting and killing of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Brown. Shrouded in controversy, protests and police presence, the case immediately brought Ferguson, Missouri – a small suburb of St. Louis – to the forefront of national news.

As crowds gathered, both to mourn and protest, news agencies quickly sent out photographers to capture the emotions, tensions and friction of the case. One of those photographers was Scott Olson, a Staff News Photographer for Getty Images. In the below video, presented on behalf of Getty Images’ In Focus segment, Olson recounts the mission that was covering the growing unrest in Ferguson.

As shared by Olson in the video, the assignment was expected to be just a couple of days long. But, as tensions grew, police presence increased and protests took a turn for the worst – on both sides – Olson and other photojournalists were kept in Ferguson for two weeks. In that two weeks, Olson captured some of the most iconic images of the protests, demonstrations and events that surrounded the case.

The video comes in at just over four minutes long. In addition to Olson’s retelling, the video overlays a extensive collection of images captured by him throughout his coverage of Ferguson. It’s not often we get this kind of inside look at such a high profile case, so do yourself a favor and press play.