As a born-and-raised Londoner, strange-looking people wandering around Soho in the capital’s West End have never particularly surprised me; it’s practically part of the postcode. But these performers weren’t there simply to be watched. They were there to be photographed.
A procession of figures dressed head-to-toe in red with ghostly white faces moved through central London this week. On social media, the predictable adjectives followed: powerful, haunting, striking. One Facebook post even described them as standing “in solidarity with Gaza” and calling for “a just two-state solution,” though quite how absolute silence manages to communicate the complex diplomatic architecture of a future peace agreement was left unexplained.
Still, the Gaza connection isn’t manufactured. The Red Rebels have become a regular presence at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. They appeared at the “Pilgrimage 4 Palestine” in March 2025, the “Red Line for Palestine” protest outside Parliament three months later, the National March for Palestine in early 2026, and a Nakba Day march in May.
This week’s procession took them past businesses that protesters accused of involvement in environmental destruction, war and “genocide.” On September 14, photographer Vuk Valcic caught them outside Palantir’s offices in Soho Square during what organizers dubbed a “Walk of Shame.” Those photographs promptly reached Reuters Connect via ZUMA Press.
And that’s where this gets interesting from a picture editor’s perspective.
The costumes aren’t incidental, nor is the choreography. Emerging from Extinction Rebellion, the Red Rebel Brigade was created by Doug Francisco, whose background includes street performance, circus and theater. The slow, silent movements and carefully arranged tableaux are designed for emotional and visual impact.
Soho, of all places, is a fitting stage. Shaftesbury Avenue has cut through the neighborhood since the 1880s and became part of the heart of London’s Theatreland. The only difference here is you don’t need a ticket.
Crucially, the Red Rebels don’t hide their visual literacy. Their own website describes their imagery as one of the group’s great strengths, capable of grabbing attention and securing international media coverage. It actively encourages collaboration with photographers to produce powerful images.
Their own account of the group’s origins is even more revealing. Such was the response from photographers and the press that, in their words, the Red Rebels became a “mobile photo shoot.”
Their Palestine-related appearances have since found their way into major professional image databases, including Getty Images, Shutterstock Editorial and Reuters Connect.
None of this makes the photographs fake. The people were there, the action happened, and the photojournalists documented what unfolded. But there’s a deliberate layer here that shouldn’t be missed: these aren’t simply protesters who happen to make extraordinary photographs.
Making extraordinary photographs is the protest.
The robes, white paint, silence, and synchronized poses are built to stop someone scrolling through a news feed. The activists understand that. So do the photographers. And the resulting pictures moving through international image distribution show just how effectively it works.
After more than a century of drama around Shaftesbury Avenue, Soho has simply acquired a new troupe.
Only this time, the stage is the street, and the real audience is the camera.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
