Before and after: drone photos capture how protests transform site of Confederate statue in US

It is a dramatic transformation. Just a little over a month ago, the site of Robert E Lee's statue in Richmond, Virginia's Monument Avenue was surrounded by a verdant lawn. Now, the grass has faded to green-yellow as protesters have made the area into a place from which to make their voices heard.

The white stone base of the statue is now filled with words of solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement, which has sprung into new action after the killing of George Floyd in May. In more than 150 cities across the US, protesters have marched the streets to call for an end to police brutality and demand social justice.

Aerial shots capture these shifts, taken by photographer and data engineer Chris Anton with his drone camera. The 24-year-old had taken images of Monument Avenue in April, as he says he was “drawn to the symmetry of the traffic circle”. When he saw the effects of the protests, he knew he had the opportunity to document the change.

“I was moved by how many people were putting forth effort to make a difference in a way I have not seen in my lifetime. I wanted to capture it in some way because I saw it as something historic and an issue that is important and needs a solution, especially in light of George Floyd’s tragic death,” he says.

Anton has been working with drone photography for seven months, drawn to it because of his interest in art, technology and computer graphics. "I want people to see things they recognise from a new perspective. I hope it may take a moment to realise it's something they've seen before just presented differently," he says about his style.

He posted the before and after images on his social media, where he wrote, “Protestors making their voices heard! The grass turning yellow is a testament to all the people marching to end police brutality in recent weeks.”

Anton plans to sell prints of the drone shots on his website, after which he will donate the proceeds to the fundraising campaign for the Emancipation Proclamation and Freedom Monument. The work will feature 12-foot bronze statues that represent newly freed slaves.

As the protests continue for a third week, there is also a growing cultural and historical awareness on public monuments in the US. One by one, statues across America are being knocked down for their association with the Confederacy.

In Boston, Christopher Columbus was beheaded. In Alabama, a statue of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, was removed. In Richmond, Virginia, protestors toppled two figures – a confederate general and Davis – and also threw another Columbus statue into a lake.

Richmond is particularly relevant due to their history of slavery and Jim Crow laws. It was the capital of the confederacy while the North and South fought during the American Civil War.

Robert E Lee, whose statue Anton photographed, was a Confederate soldier who served as general of the Confederate States Army. For now, his statue remains standing in Monument Avenue.

More information on Chris Anton's drone photography is on airvaphoto.com