I became interested in the Occupy movement while finishing my final thesis project for my M.F.A. in Documentary photography. I spent the last three years interviewing and photographing homeless individuals I met on the streets in a variety of California cities. During that time I noticed a significant increase in the numbers and types of individuals who were homeless due to the economic downturn and foreclosure crisis.

Occupy encampments began to spring up everywhere and I felt drawn to them in order to explore the message of the movement and to meet the people who were drawn to it. I began to notice quite a bit of negative press directed at participants so I decided to journey out and visit the encampments with an open mind.

This series on Occupy Oakland was shot on the day of the General Strike when thousands of people showed up to march in support of the movement following the brutal attack by riot police on Iraq War Veteran Scott Olsen.