Look

User menu

Search form

Sleepless in New York City

Sleepless in New York City
Wed, 4/25/2012

Stephanie Keith, originally trained as a painter and anthropologist, began her photography career after attending the International Center for Photography in New York City.

“Sitting at home with my kids on September 18, I saw the news stories about the pepper spray incident on the protest march," she recalled. "Pepper spray? Protest march? What protest? The moment I heard about this new protest, I was down at Zuccotti with my cameras, impressed that people would give up so much: jobs, relationships, apartments and security to be present for this protest. Just getting back into editorial/news photography after a maternity leave, I decided to go “all in” with documenting the Occupy protest.

"Sitting in my jail cell after being arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge, I had time to think about Occupy. Storming the Brooklyn Bridge roadway, we all felt for a brief invigorating moment that this protest was different, that our collective voices were being heard. While photographing the event, I had not intended to get arrested. As a press photographer, I thought arrest was not an option. Still wading into the Occupy Wall Street movement, I came away from that day with a new level of commitment, irreversibly involved in the eruption of a movement.

"At this point, I’ve practically become a regular at any of the Direct Actions or happenings with Occupy Wall Street. As mainstream media coverage has abated, mine has not. In the winter, when many people had written off Occupy, I knew there were hundreds of committed activists working on it day and night. I photographed the New Year’s party in Zuccotti. I was with the occupiers as they were evicted from Zuccotti on the six-month anniversary in March and went with them to occupy Union Square. I’ve visited them sleeping on Wall Street. Wherever they go, my cameras follow."

Previous to documenting the Occupy Wall Street protest, Stephanie’s work has been published in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine and NPR, among others. She's trained her lens on Evangelical teenagers, Muslim life in New York City and Haitian-American Vodou ceremonies in Brooklyn. Stephanie’s Vodou work has been published as a book, Vodou Brooklyn, published by the Caribbean Studies Press.

3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

ONE-TIME DONATION

Just use the simple form below to make a single direct donation.

DONATE NOW

MONTHLY DONATION

Be a sustaining sponsor. Give a reacurring monthly donation at any level.

GET SOME MERCH!

Now you can wear your support too! From T-Shirts to tote bags.

SHOP TODAY

Sign Up

Article Tabs

This last month has shown America that society will gladly tolerate vigilante violence, provided a vigilante chooses the right target.

President-elect Donald Trump isn’t just appointing incompetent buffoons to his Cabinet, but deeply immoral individuals who are completely lacking in family values.

Biden cared more about the appearance of having an independent DOJ untainted by politics than he did about holding an unrepentant criminal ex-president accountable.

The American people clearly spoke, and the drubbing Democrats received requires looking beyond just issue polls, voting patterns, campaign strategy, or get-out-the-vote tactics.

The recent decisions by two of the most influential national newspapers of record to not publish their endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris says a lot about how seriously they take Trump’s threats to democracy and his promises of vengeance against his enemies.

This last month has shown America that society will gladly tolerate vigilante violence, provided a vigilante chooses the right target.

If the Democrats’ theme of 2017 was Resistance, the theme for Democrats in 2025 needs to instead be Opposition — and these two GOP senators may be the models to emulate.

President-elect Donald Trump isn’t just appointing incompetent buffoons to his Cabinet, but deeply immoral individuals who are completely lacking in family values.

Biden cared more about the appearance of having an independent DOJ untainted by politics than he did about holding an unrepentant criminal ex-president accountable.

The country has never moved as close to the course it took under Benito Mussolini as it is doing now — and even if Meloni is not a neo-fascist politician, she has put herself in a position to appeal to and broaden fascism's political base.

The American people clearly spoke, and the drubbing Democrats received requires looking beyond just issue polls, voting patterns, campaign strategy, or get-out-the-vote tactics.

Posted 1 month 3 weeks ago

This last month has shown America that society will gladly tolerate vigilante violence, provided a vigilante chooses the right target.

Posted 3 weeks 1 day ago

Biden cared more about the appearance of having an independent DOJ untainted by politics than he did about holding an unrepentant criminal ex-president accountable.

Posted 1 month 1 week ago

If the Democrats’ theme of 2017 was Resistance, the theme for Democrats in 2025 needs to instead be Opposition — and these two GOP senators may be the models to emulate.

Posted 4 weeks 1 day ago

The country has never moved as close to the course it took under Benito Mussolini as it is doing now — and even if Meloni is not a neo-fascist politician, she has put herself in a position to appeal to and broaden fascism's political base.

Posted 1 month 2 weeks ago

This last month has shown America that society will gladly tolerate vigilante violence, provided a vigilante chooses the right target.