JUST STOP OIL
Documenting Britain’s most controversial climate activists, 2022–2025
But by 2022, Extinction Rebellion’s methods had changed. No longer as radical as in its founding years, XR had now pivoted to less direct forms of protest. The group largely fell from the headlines.
This left a gap. In 2022, a new group emerged. It boldly and dramatically reclaimed the road-blocking roots of Extinction Rebellion, but soon went even further. Inspired by direct action groups from history, this new group soon became synonymous with one thing: orange paint.
This was Just Stop Oil.
On 16 October 2022, I was photographing an Extinction Rebellion event in Hyde Park, when I overheard two participants talking about Just Stop Oil. One was saying that the group had just targeted the prestigious Aston Martin showroom on Park Lane.
From where we were standing, near the Reformer’s Tree, the Aston Martin place was just about visible. I glanced across the park, in time to see a volley of blue lights tearing north up Park Lane.
I started to walk across the grass, then broke into a run.
Sure enough, the showroom had been hit. Its windows were doused in orange.
A year later, in October 2023, I get word that another direct action protest is planned, this time at the University of Bristol. I’m told a time and a place, but not what to expect.
A little after 11am, a young man appears at the Queen’s Building of the university carrying a large holdall. He takes off a layer, revealing a black-on-white Just Stop Oil t-shirt.
From the holdall comes a bright orange fire extinguisher.
I just have time to react, dashing across to catch the first moments as 21-year-old student Ben lets loose the iconic orange paint across the windows of the building, home to the engineering faculty.
He then sits down on the ground, makes a short statement to the passers-by who have stopped, and awaits arrest. After around half an hour, six police officers arrive in six cars and Ben is arrested.
The protest was to raise awareness of JSO’s upcoming student-led campaign, but also in protest at the University’s financial links to fossil fuel related industry.
In April 2025, Just Stop Oil took to the streets in what was billed as their ‘final’ march.
The group was disbanding, and this was to be one final send-off.
In truth, the group re-emerged in September 2026. Their future remains unclear. But these pictures document what was, at the time, a conclusion to three years of radical, controversial protest.