English Defence League Protest, Leeds

On 31 October, roughly 900 supporters of the English Defence League protested in Leeds against what they see as the rise of 'radical islam' in Britain. The event was naturally strongly policed which resulted in me being penned in with 900 rather angry people. I got threatened repeatedly, spat on.. good first experience of covering a protest!

Full gallery: http://www.pbase.com …ography/edl_lee​ds_protest

Comments & Critique appreciated.

#1: Used by the BBC in their report - http://news.bbc.co.uk …est_yorkshire/8​335419.stm

You got some wicked captures mate.Power to you for getting into the middle of the actiion.Dont know if I have a favorite but I am drawn to the last one for what ever reason.All the best..GORDO

Great pictures, Adam...

Even better that some cops are wearing the poppies too...the country hasn't gone all PC yet!

Great series, thank you for sharing.

The British police seem to have a gentler approach to protests and riots than the US cops. Here they just tend to come out in full riot gear and get ready fo the worst. The last one I covered involve skinheads protesting on Martin Luther King day in Denver. That got ugly.

Nice set, I like many of these images, lots of good stuff there. # 3 is funny in that the woman in the Burkha and the guy in the hoodie aren't dressed too differently really. But I'm sure that's why you took the image to begin with. Excellent work.

That's excellent Adam! And congrats on being published online with the BBC!

Love the first and the last. True gritty angles, looks like you got right into it. You must have your hair pretty short right now, fit in nicely.

excellant series ! all are great but i especially like 2 , 6 and 8 . i really like your use of different angles ... one thing i would suggest is an 'overall' shot included in the set . i didnt check your other photos in your gallery so you might have some there . great pj work getting in close in a very tough difficult situation . well done mate !

GORDO wrote in post #8959643
You got some wicked captures mate.Power to you for getting into the middle of the actiion.Dont know if I have a favorite but I am drawn to the last one for what ever reason.All the best..GORDO

Cheers. It was definitely interesting getting in the middle of it all, quite enjoyed it! You're probably being drawn to the beautiful IQ that always comes out of the 35L when it's close to wide open

Harm wrote in post #8960430
Great pictures, Adam...

Even better that some cops are wearing the poppies too...the country hasn't gone all PC yet!

Thanks. Like you said a few did. Don't think that will end anytime soon.

masse wrote in post #8961205
Great series, thank you for sharing.

Thanks.

ChasWG wrote in post #8961675
The British police seem to have a gentler approach to protests and riots than the US cops. Here they just tend to come out in full riot gear and get ready fo the worst. The last one I covered involve skinheads protesting on Martin Luther King day in Denver. That got ugly.

Nice set, I like many of these images, lots of good stuff there. # 3 is funny in that the woman in the Burkha and the guy in the hoodie aren't dressed too differently really. But I'm sure that's why you took the image to begin with. Excellent work.

The police are fairly hands off but when it gets violent they will get stuck in. They have to be very careful at the minute because somebody died at the G20 protests in London last year. Seeing the videos of the G20 Pittsburgh protests is unreal though, so heavy handed and over the top really.

Glad you like the series. That is why I took #3, had to wait for him to match the placard which was interesting as he was one of the guys threatening earlier.

Wazza wrote in post #8962107
That's excellent Adam! And congrats on being published online with the BBC!

Love the first and the last. True gritty angles, looks like you got right into it. You must have your hair pretty short right now, fit in nicely.

Cheers mate. I do yes, don't think they'd have appreciated a long haired looking student in their midst haha! If you look at my fire protest shots this looking up shot of emergency services is becoming my trademark shot!

eddiebrown wrote in post #8963250
excellant series ! all are great but i especially like 2 , 6 and 8 . i really like your use of different angles ... one thing i would suggest is an 'overall' shot included in the set . i didnt check your other photos in your gallery so you might have some there . great pj work getting in close in a very tough difficult situation . well done mate !

Thanks alot. If you check out the gallery there are some overall shots

Nice set of pics. You are quite brave to risk self and camera, I reckon. Odd that it takes one extremist group to protest against another. Where are all the non-extremist protesters? Perhaps that's a wossname - do I mean a contradiction? The first shot gives the impression there were way more police than protesters. Good stuff.

A super selection of shots imo. Your bravery was rewarded 8)

Hannya wrote in post #8966208
Nice set of pics. You are quite brave to risk self and camera, I reckon. Odd that it takes one extremist group to protest against another. Where are all the non-extremist protesters? Perhaps that's a wossname - do I mean a contradiction? The first shot gives the impression there were way more police than protesters. Good stuff.

Thanks. It wasn't really that violent, more just verbal threats. A Canal (France) camera man got pushed around a bit and his camera hit at but he just stood his ground. There were more protestor's then police i'd say but only just, it was a heavy police presence.

g3org3y wrote in post #8966992
A super selection of shots imo. Your bravery was rewarded 8)

Cheers!

i like how that guy is on the cell phone in #7... lol

RadAL wrote in post #8974672
i like how that guy is on the cell phone in #7... lol

Cheers, I would prefer it if he was mirroring the other guy but it does give it a slightly more humourous slant in a way.

WOW, you got some very powerful shots, congratulations!

lindsaytblum wrote in post #8984292
WOW, you got some very powerful shots, congratulations!

Thankyou.