13-23: How a Summer of Violence Sparked a Decade of Activism
Joseph Mario Giordano | Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Photographer: Joseph Mario Giordano
Exhibit Title: 13-23: How a Summer of Violence Sparked a Decade of Activism
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
13-23: How a summer of violence led to a decade of activism. Baltimore saw a spike in homicides in 2013 from 219 in 2012 to 235 which at the time “defied regional and national trends.” Over that summer and the following summers activists took to the streets to look out for their neighborhoods, where they say, the police were ineffectual. Also in 2013, Tyrone West was beaten by police and died at the scene, leading his sister to take on the police department in her family’s name. The activists who created Baltimore Ceasefire and now Baltimore Peace Movement walked through the city streets during the 300 Man March, Mom’s Against Gun Violence held several rallies and marches, fed up with the cities gun violence taking their children. Baltimore Safe Streets knocked on doors and practiced interventions when could with the outcomes sometimes claiming one of their own. The photos in this book document the city in the sweltering summer of 2013 and follow the activists on the street as they tried to curb the city’s gun violence well into 2023.
Editor: Audrey Weiss
Designer: Jen Tydings
Publisher: Nighted Life Press
“In 2013, as a resident of Baltimore, I didn’t think that parts of the city understood or even cared about the rise in homicides. Baltimore saw a spike in homicides in 2013 from 219 in 2012 to 235, which at the time ‘defied regional and national trends.’ I wanted to show the toll gun violence was taking on the city. Over that summer and the ones that followed, activists took to the streets to look out for their neighborhoods, where they say the police were ineffectual. Also in 2013, Tyrone West was beaten by police and died at the scene, leading his sister to take on the police department in her family’s name. The activists who created Baltimore Ceasefire and now Baltimore Peace Movement walked through the city streets during the 300 Man March; Moms Demand Action held several rallies and marches, fed up with the city’s gun violence taking their children. I spoke with funeral directors, one from Chatman-Harris in West Baltimore, who said, ‘As far as burying our young people, it’s sad because by them being young people the families are not anticipating burying them, so they don’t have the proper funds or insurance, and then when something happens they have to go out and raise the money,’ These are rhe voices to documented in Baltimore's various neighborhoods. The series was featured in American Photography Annual 40 and Paris Photo in 2024.
Baltimore Ceasefire
Baltimore Peace Movement
Baltimore Safe Streets
Mom's Agasint Gun Violence
Joseph Mario Giordano
302 E. 26th St. Baltimore, MD 21218
410-241-4152
IG: @jmgiordanophoto
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