Pleading the First is a look at what it feels like when people step into the street and use their voices. These photographs come from protests during the Trump administration in 2025 and 2026, when crowds gathered with signs in their hands and hope or frustration in their eyes. I tried to stand in the middle of it all with a steady heart, paying attention to small things like the way someone held a friend’s arm or the quiet moments before a chant began. I wanted to honor the people who showed up, along with the officers and neighbors who stood nearby. What I saw was the First Amendment lived out in real time. Not an idea on paper, but something carried by ordinary people who believed their presence mattered. This work is my way of remembering them with gratitude and care.