Devin Allen

Devin Allen is an American photographer, photojournalist, and activist based in Baltimore, Maryland. He gained national attention after the Freddie Gray protests in 2015, when his documentary photograph entitled "Baltimore Uprising" was published as Time magazine's May 2015 cover photo.[1] His documentary photo of the George Floyd protests was published as Time's June 2020 cover.[2][3]

Allen's photographs are held in the Smithsonian collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.[4][5]

Career

Baltimore Uprising and other projects (2015–2019)

Allen gained national attention and media prominence after the 2015 protests following the death of Freddie Gray. [6][7] However, Allen shared his first protest photographs a year later, following the police killing of Michael Brown, an 18-year old black-male resident of Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014. [8][9][3] The murder sparked protests across the neighborhood where the incident took place. [9][8][10]

After the death of Freddie Gray on April 12, 2015,[11] Allen—who grew up five minutes from where the Baltimore police murdered Freddie Gray[1]—documented the protests and posted his subsequent photos on Instagram.[12] Across three weeks of the protests, Allen took around 10,000 photos.[13] His images capturing the protests went viral[1] and were covered by the BBC,[14] The Washington Post,[15] The New York Times ,[16] and others.

A photo Allen took of the protests on April 25, 2015 was chosen as Time magazine's May 2015 cover,[17] making Allen the third amateur photographer to be featured on the cover of Time.[4] The photograph, titled Baltimore Uprising, shows a man running away from a pack of charging police officers in the city of Baltimore. After Allen uploaded the photograph from his camera to his phone, it took him several hours to realize the photograph had gone viral, as he had continued photographing the protests until after dark that evening.[1]

In 2015, building off his recent media attention from Time magazine, Allen launched "Through Their Eyes", a youth program that teaches photography to Baltimore city school students, specifically those from districts with underfunded arts education programs. The program includes giving cameras to students, as well as organizing educational workshops and art exhibitions of student work. [18][19][20]

In 2016, Allen's photography exhibit "A Beautiful Ghetto" was held at the Gallery Slought.[12] In 2017, Allen published his first photography book as a coffee table book titled A Beautiful Ghetto.[2][21] The book was nominated for the 49th NAACP Image Awards in the category of "Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author".[22]

Allen was selected as the first recipient of the Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship in 2017.[2] The Fellowship supported the continuation of his "Through Their Eyes" project.[23]

George Floyd protests (2020–present)

After the murder of George Floyd, a Black American killed during arrest by a white police officer named Derek Chauvin,[24][25] Allen attended a Baltimore protest on June 5, 2020 organized by demonstrators representing the city's Black transgender community.[2] At the protest, he captured a photograph that was featured on the cover of Time magazine. The photograph shows a protester sitting with a megaphone, while other demonstrators lie down on the ground.[2]

In July 2020, Allen was selected as a Leica Ambassador.[26]

Personal life

Allen was born and raised in West Baltimore.[16] As of 2020, Allen is still active in the Baltimore community and says that his goal when documenting events like the protests is to make sure he tells the whole story.[2]

According to a report on National Public Radio (NPR), Devin Allen received his first camera as a gift from his grandmother in 2013.[3] It was a Canon camera that she bought on credit from Best Buy, as per NPR.[3]

References
  1. "Meet the Amateur Photographer Covering Baltimore's Protests". Time. April 28, 2015. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  2. Bates, Josiah (June 10, 2020). "The Story Behind TIME's George Floyd Protest Cover". Time. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  3. Beyram, Seyma (January 16, 2023). "How one photographer is using his camera as a weapon against poverty and racism". National Public Radio. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  4. Boyette, Chris (19 January 2016). "How he became 'The Eyes of Baltimore'". CNN. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  5. "A beautiful ghetto / Devin Allen". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  6. Rizzo, Carita (May 23, 2022). "He believes photography can save kids' lives. After all, it saved his". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  7. "The Story Behind TIME's George Floyd Protest Cover". Time. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  8. Levenson, Alta Spells,Eric (2020-08-10). "Protesters gather outside Ferguson Police Department on anniversary of Michael Brown's death". CNN. Retrieved 2023-01-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. Rosenbaum, Jason (August 9, 2019). "5 Years After Michael Brown Shooting, Slow Signs Of Progress". National Public Radio. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  10. Lopez, German (2015-05-31). "What were the 2014 Ferguson protests about?". Vox. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  11. CHANG, AILSA (April 24, 2020). "Freddie Gray's Death, 5 Years Later". National Public Radio. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  12. Rapa, Patrick (29 January 2016). "Devin Allen's "A Beautiful Ghetto" at Slought". Philadelphia. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  13. "'A Beautiful Ghetto': The powerful photographic vision of a kid from the 'hood". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  14. "The amateur photographer capturing the story of the #BaltimoreRiots". BBC News. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  15. Kennicott, Philip (2016-02-26). "A young photographer made the Baltimore Uprising unforgettable". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  16. Richardson, Whitney (24 June 2015). "Devin Allen's Inside Story in Baltimore". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  17. Laurent, Olivier (30 April 2015). "See TIME's Baltimore Cover Shot by an Aspiring Photographer". Time. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  18. Collins, Kiara (28 April 2016). "Devin Allen's youth photography program is helping kids one camera at a time". Blavity News & Politics. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  19. Valentine, Claire (26 September 2017). "Photographer Devin Allen on Capturing His Hometown, "A Beautiful Ghetto"". PAPER. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  20. ""A Beautiful Ghetto" A New Photography Exhibition by 2017 Fellowship Recipient Devin Allen". The Gordon Parks Foundation. Archived from the original on 2021-04-12. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  21. Owens, Donna (August 28, 2017). "'A Beautiful Ghetto': Devin Allen's Images Proclaim Baltimore Resilience". NBC News. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  22. "Nominees Announced for 49th NAACP Image Awards". NAACP. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  23. "Devin Allen - 2017 Fellowship Recipient". The Gordon Parks Foundation. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  24. Barker, Kim (2020-06-27). "The Black Officer Who Detained George Floyd Had Pledged to Fix the Police". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  25. Andone, Dakin (2020-05-28). "Surveillance video does not support police claims that George Floyd resisted arrest". CNN. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  26. Andy Day (2020-07-10). "Leica Adds Devin Allen, a Gordon Parks Foundation Fellow, to Its Ambassadors". Fstoppers. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
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