Columbus photographer Katie Forbes' debut exhibit highlights victims of police violence
Katie Forbes remembered one of the first protests she ever photographed.
It was March 2017 outside the Franklin County Common Pleas Courthouse, and the rally was for Henry Green, a 23-year-old who was fatally shot by two Columbus police officers the previous year.
Inside the courthouse, a grand jury was voting whether to indict the two officers, Jason Bare and Zachary Rosen. The group ultimately decided that the use of deadly force was justified.
One of the people Forbes was keeping an eye on in the crowd was Green's mother, Adrienne Hood.
"I was watching Mrs. Hood's face, seeing the reaction of the activists who had been helping. Watching the devastation that spread across a good-sized crowd when it was announced . . . it made me tear up. You could feel the devastation, see it in everyone's faces," Forbes said.
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Green is one of several people highlighted in Forbes' first exhibit, "Documenting a Movement," which opened last week at the Bridge Gallery at 400 West Rich in Franklinton. Running through Dec. 3, the exhibit features 25 photographs of protests and memorials following the deaths of Black people killed by Columbus police.
Forbes, 39, of Olde Towne East, said she has been collecting the stories of Columbus families affected by police violence since 2016. She created "Documenting a Movement" as a way to keep discussions going about social justice and police brutality, as she didn't want those topics to just be tied to 2020 and the protests that occurred after the death of George Floyd.
"It is a story that has been going on long before and unfortunately, is continuing to go on after," she said. "I got a lot of support from the families that I've worked with, and I think the responsible thing to do with all of the images I've gathered is to make them as seen as possible, so these ongoing stories continue to be told."
A tribute to the victims' families
The photos Forbes features in the exhibit are intimate and don't shy away from showing the emotional and mental toll victims' families face when losing a loved one in a public space.
One example are photos of Tyre King's mother and grandmother Nia Malika King and Dearrea King sobbing on the day that a Franklin County grand jury declined to indict the police officer who shot him. The 13-year-old was killed in an alley off Hoffman Avenue in the Olde Towne East neighborhood in 2016 while police were looking for two robbery suspects from an incident reported in the area.
Other movements highlighted include protests for Jaron Thomas, Julius Tate Jr., Casey Goodson Jr. and Ma'Khia Bryant. And people who were part of the social justice movement in Columbus are also part of the display, like activist Amber Evans, who died by suicide in 2019.
Forbes said she initially had difficulty photographing these kinds of moments, feeling like it was an invasion of privacy for the victims' families. But she said several of them have given their support for the exhibit, including Hood and Donovan's Lewis' mother Rebecca Duran, both of whom attended the opening reception.
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Hood was surprised when she found out she was in the display, but said it was an honor to be featured and a reminder to keep moving forward.
"She (Forbes) has an eye for what she does and that is what stood out to me," Hood said. "There's a lot of photographers that are out there with us constantly, but you can just tell her passion is behind what she sees."
Exhibit shows the 'story beyond the headlines'
Forbes said she hopes "Documenting a Movement," shows the broken grief cycle families and the overall community go through when another person's life is cut short in the hands of police.
"These families don't get to heal, our community doesn't get to heal because we start going through the grief cycle and then another person is killed," she said. "It's heartbreaking."
However, Forbes said covering social justice movements for the last six years has brought some happy moments in her life as well.
"You get to see the fight and the tenacity of people," she said. "I've gotten close with Henry Green's mom and I've done family photos for her. That's one of the things that makes me feel the luckiest in doing this work. You see those hard moments, but then you get to see some of the joy they are able to experience later."
At a glance
"Documenting a Movement" runs through Dec. 3 at the Bridge Gallery inside 400 West Rich in Franklinton. Showings are by appointment only. Those interested can email info@franklintonartsdistrict.com.
@micah_walker701
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Katie Forbes' photo exhibit highlights victims of police violence
