“Occupation Began With Columbus–Support Native Rights!” reads the sign. A woman with painted nails is clutching it;  with tattoos on her arm and a flower in her hair, she looks ahead with a serious, almost mournful expression.

This woman was the subject of one of three photographs taken by junior Katie Walt that were hanging in the ArtSpace gallery during its December and January showcase.

“I really liked the woman’s face, because she looked really determined,” said Walt, explaining how she chose the subject. “I was trying to take the pictures quickly, so they were moving, obviously.”

According to Walt, the woman was marching in a protest related to the Occupy movement. The other two photos in the triptych were taken at the actual encampment itself. One shows a man leaning out of his tent writing something on the ground. On his shoulder is a placard that says “99%.” In the other photo, three men are sitting in folding chairs, surrounded by a sea of tents and tarps.

Walt said that when she first heard about Occupy Boston, she wanted to see it and learn more about it. She said that while she doesn’t agree with all of the movement’s ideas, she thinks it was a good thing.

“They definitely were saying things that needed to be said, and it was great that people were coming together as a popular movement to talk about the grievances that they had,” she added. “I think that it was a shame that they made them shut it down.”

Walt said that she does photography because it is much quicker than other media, like painting.

“It’s really great because it takes a second for you to actually see something forever.”

However, the appeal of a camera was different for one person she was talking to at camp.

“I spoke to another man in a tent,” she said, “and he was talking about how it was good that a picture can’t portray how he smells because they don’t have showers there.”

Over the course of a few weeks, Walt printed almost every picture on her film roll. She said she chose to use low contrast when printing the pictures of the encampment, so that the shades of gray could lend the scenes a dirt feel. However, she chose to use a higher contrast on the picture of the woman marching.

She said, “I wanted that to be brighter because it’s the message of the movement, and so it comes with a brighter future.”

Aaron Sege can be contacted at [email protected].