From the Protest – London

On 17th September 2025, the ‘Stop Trump Coalition’ organised a demonstration where thousands of people marched through central London to Parliament Square for a rally against US President Donald Trump’s second state visit to the UK. I wasn’t covering this protest for a client, a news agency, or anyone else. I went purely for myself. No assignment, no checklist of required shots — just the urge to experience, observe, and record the event.

When I looked over my gear before heading out, I knew it had to be film. Specifically, 35mm. And it had to be the Leica MP rangefinder camera with classic 35mm Summicron lens like so many of my documentary heroes carried.

Shooting film at events like this is a joy. There’s no “chimping” at the back screen, no fluttering bursts of 20 frames per second leaving you with thousands of images to sift through. Instead, you slow down. You breathe. You watch. You choose carefully. You’re present — documenting not just what you see, but how you feel. Witnessing people’s right to protest peacefully becomes not only a subject but an experience.

In the end, I shot 188 frames across five rolls: three in colour (Kodak Vision3 500T and 250D) and two in black & white (Kentmere 100, plus Kodak TMax 400 both pushed to 800). Back home, I developed the rolls myself — Bellini C41 for colour, and 510 Pyro (semi-stand 1+200) for black and white. I scanned them with a Plustek OpticFilm using Silverfast 8.

Here are some of my favourite images from the day.

📸 Some Takeaways

• Protests are excellent practice grounds for street photography. Most people expect to be photographed, and those carrying costumes, placards, or homemade banners often welcome the attention.
• Photographers everywhere. At times it felt like there were nearly as many cameras as protesters — but this creates a vibrant energy and a sense of camaraderie as we try to document the event.
• Getting close matters. The real impact often comes from stepping into the action and working up-close, where emotions and interactions feel most raw and authentic.
• Leica’s draw their own attention. I was actually approached by a photographer who asked if he could take my picture because I was using a Leica camera. That’s something that has never happened before and made me laugh. I said sure… but I do wonder where that might end up?!
• Colour or Black & White? Did I make the right choice? Starting out I figured colour would be the way to go given that protests are usually colourful affairs. Certainly the images benefited from the rich ‘reds’ and ‘oranges’. Unfortunately, the weather turned dark and gloomy and I wasn’t prepared with faster film stocks. I went with 800 iso for the black and white in the end and I wish I’d pushed it further to 1600. That said I got away with slower shutter speed hand holding and it’s a lesson for next time.
• Bring earplugs. I’m so out of practice at covering these sorts of events that I forgot to bring ear plugs! When the whistles start blowing and the drums start banging… Oh dear. Still, first world problems compared to other stuff going on in the world.

So would you have taken a film camera? And would you have used colour or black and white?

Thanks for reading.