Tyre Nichols’ Photography Will Appear On A Billboard In Palm Springs, CA

Tyre Nichols had his dreams stripped from him. Nichols loved photography and had plans to shoot his way into a career—literally. Well, this weekend, a selection of his Nichols photos will appear on billboards across parts of California.

According to the New York Times, as part of Desert X’s political art exhibition, some of Nichols’ photography will appear on billboards across Palm Springs, California.

“We think about this as a way of celebrating Tyre’s imagination,” Neville Wakefield, the Desert X artistic director, said. “He was an aspiring photographer, and in that sense, we’re commemorating not just his life but the creative potential of all lives truncated or cut short by police violence.”

Ben Crump, a lawyer who is representing the Nichols family, has also been instrumental in this project. “We believe in the mission of Desert X and feel that now, more than ever, art giving voice to important social issues is crucial,” Crump said to the New York Times.

The billboard, dubbed “Originals,” will include six photos Nichols snapped in Memphis. The photos include a beautiful shot of the Hernando de Soto Bridge, a colored sunset, and a monument to Tom Lee, a Black river worker who saved several from a capsized boat on the Mississippi River.

Wakefield organized this year’s edition of Desert X with Diana Campbell, a well-known curator. New York Times reported that it was the director of Desert X, Jenny Gil who showed Wakefield the website where Nichols posted his photography.

“[This presentation] “contrast the serenity and beauty of these images, levitated above the roadways, with the violence that happens on the side of the road, particularly to Black and brown bodies,” Wakefield said. “And in so doing,” he continued, “we hope to make people think about the importance of traffic-stop reform.”

On Jan. 7, Nichols was viciously beaten by five Memphis police officers after a traffic stop. All five officers have been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression.