INDIANAPOLIS — RTV6 and journalists across the city have been sharing video and photos of powerful moments during the protests that have taken place over the last week.
One photographer who has been capturing these images explains why sharing photographs of this moment in history will be important for future generations.
"I always told myself that if I got the chance I would try to document it," Alessander Mazabel said.
That promise to himself brought Mazabel, a portrait photographer, out of his comfort zone and into the middle of the protests happening in downtown Indianapolis. Mazabel's photos have been both visually stunning and haunting.
"Instead of capturing the smoke, it actually got the sparks coming out of the gun," Mazabel said.
But getting action shots like this comes at a price.
"I was tear-gassed at least six times because I was trying to stay up in front," Mazabel said.
One of the more dramatic things Mazabel has done is taking color photos and making them black and white, almost transporting you to an unfamiliar place in another time.
"It can happen anywhere," Mazabel said. "In a weekend, downtown was turned basically in what looked like a war zone."
He's also been making a point to also share the peaceful demonstrations he's encountered — people standing together as one, demanding those in power implement change.
All of it — the good and the bad — is what Mazabel wants future generations to see and learn from when they look at the pictures he took.
"Everyone down there has their own story, in every picture," Mazabel said. "I'm trying to capture a little bit of what they want to say as well."
