To some who saw what was happening, it looked as if a small town just outside St. Louis had been turned into a war zone.
“It was dangerous,” said Eric Thayer, a photographer who arrived in Ferguson a few days after the shooting.
Thayer was among the four photographers sent to Ferguson by The New York Times to cover the unrest. Reflecting back on what they saw and what it was like to be on the ground in Ferguson five years ago, some say the experience was life-changing.
— WHITNEY CURTIS
Looking at these photos five years later still stirs up a lot of emotions for me. In some ways, the photos make me uncomfortable, and perhaps that’s a good thing.
While covering the protests, I was shot by pepper ball rounds, tear-gassed and threatened. It was uncomfortable, but I learned my discomfort was nothing compared with what many living in the community were dealing with every day.
I began to understand why the protesters were out there night after night. I hope my photographs helped the world beyond Ferguson and St. Louis understand that, too.
As a white woman, I’ve often questioned whether this was my story to tell. I know I’ll never fully grasp the pain the Ferguson community experienced after Brown was killed.
As with any story I’m working on, I tried my best to empathize as much as possible with the people I photographed.
Whitney Curtis, 40, is based in St. Louis.
— ERIC THAYER
I arrived in Ferguson a few days after the initial shooting, on a night of relative calm. Over the next few nights, the situation would deteriorate.
In Ferguson, I channeled all my thoughts and feelings into doing the best job I could. It was difficult and sometimes unbearable to watch a community tear itself apart. It was dangerous. I was lucky to work with a seasoned group of photojournalists. We looked out for each other, kept each other safe and told the story. I couldn’t have done my job without them.
There is a trend among circles of photographers on social media of sharing opinions and political views or taking sides on an issue. A part of me understands this. It’s only natural to have emotions. But I believe it’s our job to be the eyes of history and let our images document that history, even in the midst of emotionally charged situations.
That being said, I felt a bond with Ferguson and its people. I wanted to tell the story, and I wanted to tell it well from all sides and to put my emotions aside and do my job. Stories like Ferguson demand it and will continue to demand it.
Eric Thayer, 45, is based in Washington.
— TODD HEISLER
I arrived in Ferguson to cover Brown’s funeral, which took place after about a week of protests that often turned violent. It was a sweltering August day. Some mourners arrived silently with their hands up, a reference to “hands up, don’t shoot,” a rallying cry during the protests.
The streets were mostly quiet in the days that followed the funeral. People still gathered to pray at the memorial where Brown’s body had been left for hours. I remember his graduation photo placed carefully among the dried flowers and melted wax that pooled around candles that had been there for more than a week.
But no one seemed to know what was next. Would the officer be charged? Would there be more unrest? Along Florissant Avenue, the street where the protests took place, many stores were still boarded up. Some of them had “black owned” scrawled in spray paint on plywood. There were charred chairs and tables outside a restaurant that had been burned.
Throughout that year and into the next, I watched as the demonstrations and protests reverberated throughout the country.
Todd Heisler, 47, is based in New York City.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.