At first glance, we could be looking at images from the Black power struggles of the 20th century.

Jessica decided on monochrome when she was photographing the Black Lives Matter protests in London for this reason – it felt like it gave the images the weight and timelessness warranted by this historical movement. At a time when people feared for their lives from a pandemic, they came out to fight for something bigger in taking a collective stand against racism – “the real virus” as many placards at the demo read.

Today, Jessica is usually found in the studio but she started out as a documentary photographer. This set of images is part of a wider ongoing body of work exploring Party and Protest.