Tag Archives: Wall Street

Pilots marching on Wall Street

I had a brief moment of Internet popularity when this photo of United and Continental pilots protesting near the Stock Exchange pulled in nearly 150,000 views in a day, thanks to Reddit users’ upvotes:

United/Continental pilots march on Wall Street

Of all the protest photos I took that day (this was a 15-minute break in the work day, since it took place a block away from my office), this was the least interesting to me. The pilots were arranged for a photo-op, so this is a photo of a photo-op. But I submitted it to Reddit because it was the most straightforward; yes, it’s a protest on Wall Street, but one with specific grievances against a specific corporation and not one that necessarily endorses the ongoing #occupywallst protest.

Still, the appetite for protest is big and these meticulously dressed pilots holding a picket make for a striking image. And a good number of them probably sympathize with the anti-Wall Street sentiment of the Zuccotti Park campers.

My personal favorite image from the bunch is this one, even with its weak composition, just because it was such a funny coincidence for someone who had a particular resemblance to a certain Golden Age actress to be walking down Broadway at the same time as a stream of pilots dressed in the same elegance as that period:
Woman in white, pilots

I also like this one, because of the rhythm of the pilots’ uniforms and hats, contrasted with some guy just trying to get down Broad street:

Pilots walk down Broad Street, near Stock Exchange

The Daily Dot wrote about the photo’s popularity here.