The picture of protest
It makes perfect sense, karma-wise, that of all the photos of Colin Kaepernick’s kneeldown protest, the one that wound up on the cover of Time magazine was captured by Michael Zagaris.
Z, the veteran Bay Area sports and rock-music shooter, knows his way around protest.
At a 1968 antiwar protest at San Francisco City Hall, Zagaris found himself on the stage next to Muhammad Ali, who was banned from boxing due to his antiwar stand. After Ali spoke to the crowd, a long-haired dude stood and burned his draft card.
Says Zagaris: “Ali leaned over to me and said, ‘You got a draft card you want to burn?’ I said, ‘Yeah,’ so I took my draft card out and set it on fire.”
When Zagaris, the 49ers’ photographer since 1972, saw Kaepernick wearing a Black Panthers T-shirt, Z told the QB, “Dude, I tried to join the Panthers back in ’68. I walked into their office in Oakland and I got almost to the front desk and some guy put a gun to my neck and said, ‘Get your white mother— ass out of here.’ ”
The Man — that’s hippie-speak for the corporate establishment — still brings out the old rankle in Zagaris. When a big national sports-league exec told him, “We’re tired of photographers enriching themselves off our (brand),” Zagaris asked, “By ‘enriching,’ you mean paying rent and buying groceries?”
So yes, Z leans liberal, and rebel. After college (George Washington) he worked parttime for Bobby Kennedy, researching for RFK’s speeches. Kennedy’s assassination sent Zagaris reeling. He junked his law studies, picked up a camera and crashed the party of the global rock scene, which was also, at its heart, about rocking the boat.
When Kaepernick knelt, Z saw more than a photo op.
“Of all the things that I could have gotten a (national magazine) cover for,” Zagaris said, “this personally is much more meaningful, because somebody has taken a stand that’s both controversial and risky for him — not just his personal safety, but in the court of public opinion. It’s something that really transcends sport.
“This is about what’s going on in the country.”