- Photograph by
- Oliver, Tommy, American, born 1984
- Subject of
- Unidentified Man or Men
- Culver City Police Department, American, founded 1917
- Floyd, George Perry Jr., American, 1973 - 2020
- Date
- May 31, 2020
- Medium
- digital
- Dimensions
- H x W: 4480 pixels × 6720 pixels
- File size: 172.29 MB
- Caption
- Photographer Tommy Oliver is an award-winning producer and cinematographer in television and film. Best known for his 2020 documentary 40 Years a Prisoner on HBO, his docuseries Black Love (2017–2020) on OWN, and his feature film The Perfect Guy (2015), Oliver challenges audiences to question their assumptions about race, gender, and family. The film Kinyarwanda (2011), which Oliver co-produced, weaves together narratives of resilience during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. It won the Sundance Film Festival’s award for World Cinema Drama and was recognized as one of the top 10 films of 2011. This photograph is part of a broader portfolio of images taken during Black Lives Matter rallies in Los Angeles between May 31 and June 14, 2020.
- Description
- A digital, color image of a police officer at a Black Lives Matter protest on Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, California. The image was taken by Tommy Oliver during the protests that followed the death of George Floyd. It is a close-up of a police officer wearing a helmet with the clear visor down. The officer is depicted from the chest up, looking directly at the viewer. He dominates the right side of the image. He is wearing a navy blue uniform shirt, a riot helmet with a chip strap and a visor that has been lowered to protect his eyes. The visor is covered with a brown powdery substance. There is a partially visible patch on his shirt, over his proper right bicep and an oval-shaped patch over his proper left chest. The blue, white, and red patch on his proper right arm depicts the seal of Culver City, California with a banner across the center that reads [HEART OF SCREENLAND]. The light blue, yellow, and red patch over his chest has a seal at the center and dark blue text above and below that reads [CULVER CIT[Y?]] and [POLIC[E?]]. The left half of the image is a blurred line of police officers with their backs to the viewer, a motorcycle, and a crowd of protesters. In the distant background, is a blurred building and a line of blurred trees.
- Place captured
- Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Photographs and Still Images
- Movement
- Black Lives Matter
- Type
- digital images
- digital media - born digital
- Topic
- Activism
- Justice
- Photography
- Police brutality
- Race relations
- Resistance
- U.S. History, 2001-
- Urban life
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Tommy and Codie Oliver
- Object number
- 2021.31.8
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Tommy Oliver
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




