The photograph shows demonstrators in the procession of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the foreground, a young woman is visible wearing an official button from the march; her concentrated gaze is directed directly at the camera. Behind her, men and women of different backgrounds move in a densely packed group through a tree-lined avenue that corresponds to the path of the National Mall. The close-up conveys the immediate presence of the participants and the determination with which they took to the streets for civil rights and equal opportunity. The visible button points to the organized structure of the march and identifies the wearer as a consciously participating actor in the civil rights movement.