Cry of Injustice

• Prize
• Photographer
  Jeffrey Deikis, United States

On the night of February 26, 2012, a Sanford, Florida
neighborhood watch coordinator fatally shot 17-year-old African
American high school student Trayvon Martin. In the weeks that
followed, the country erupted in social unrest. Here, during a
protest in Los Angeles, a citizen calls out for justice and the arrest
and prosecution of George Zimmerman who had recently been
released from prison due to, "lack of evidence for a federal hate
crime prosecution."

When I was 16 my dad gave me his weathered 1971 Canon FTb and a 50mm lens. In my hands, it suddenly offered a fresh perspective to observe the world around me and a creative means to document it. Working with film early on became hugely formative for me and my time in the darkroom a near religious experience.

Today I am an outdoor and editorial photographer based in Bishop, California; living at the roots of the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. I have always been deeply inspired by the confluence of alpine and desert environments that are found here and, as a climber and skier, enjoy the opportunity to explore it first-hand.

My work has been featured in Smithsonian Magazine, Rock & Ice Magazine, Photo District News, the IPA Annual Book of Photography, Gripped Magazine, California Climber Magazine, Adventure Sports Journal, the Outdoor Alliance, the University of Michigan LS&A Magazine, numerous annual publications by the American Alpine Club, and has been recognized with several national and international photography awards.