Peace protester, Brian Haw, is pictured at his peace camp in Parliament Square. Mr. Haw started his vigil in June of 2001. London, England. 05/02/2010.
Peace protester Brian Haw is pictured at his peace camp in Parliament Square on February 2, 2005 in London, England. Mr. Haw started his vigil in June of 2001.
In April of 2005, the Labour Government passed the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act of 2005, several provisions of which were designed to eject Mr. Haw from Parliament Square. SOCPA had the effect of limiting all demonstrations within a 1-kilometer Exclusion Zone around Parliament Square. Due to a drafting error, however, the law was initially found not to apply to Mr. Haw, which until an appeals court reversal in May of 2006 made him the only person in Great Britain eligible to demonstrate within the Exclusion Zone without prior police permission.
After Mr. Haw lost his May 2006 appeal, police dismantled and confiscated much of his large antiwar display, which included works by the famous graffiti artist Banksy. In January of 2007, former Turner Prize nominee Mark Wallinger unveiled a meticulously crafted recreation of the display in the Tate Britain art gallery, which is within a kilometer of Parliament Square but which falls outside of the Exclusion Zone. In February of 2007, members of the British public voted Mr. Haw the “Most Inspiring Political Figure” in the Channel 4 News Political Awards.
All of the images in this essay were made in February of 2005, with the exception of the final two images (with crowd and with beard), which were made on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War in March, 2008.
