My last encounter with the police was a couple of years ago and of course involved photography. I was visiting my dad in Virginia, and decided to take a long walk through a neighborhood I'd never explored as a kid. As a passionate NYC street photographer, I thought it possible I might find some pictures on these quiet suburban streets as well.  The few people  I encountered outside looked at me with some suspicion as I walked around with my big DSLR, but I just smiled at everyone, kept walking, and didn't really give them a second thought.

I eventually came to some woods, and it looked like I could walk through the woods to get to a big road on the other side.  Google maps showed a short walk, but about a half mile in, and a ways to go, a sudden summer storm blew in with lighting and rain, and me and my camera started to get wet despite the forest canopy.  I saw a big house on a hill up ahead, so I figured I'd walk up there to get back out to the main road and hopefully find shelter. I shielded my camera the best I could under my shirt, walked up to the house, and headed down their surprisingly long driveway to the road. 

Just as I was coming off the driveway, soaked and still hiding my camera under my shirt, the homeowner, a woman, drove up in a big SUV.  She kind of slowed as she started to turn in her driveway, and rolled down her window a crack to ask what I was doing. I knew I looked crazy, so I tried to explain how I got lost and stuck in the storm in the woods.  She directed me back to the main road and I set off walking again. It wasn't more than a few minutes later until a police officer pulled up besides me.  He told me right away that she had called, and really, who wouldn't?  I had clearly been trespassing on her property, had some large object hidden under my soaking shirt, looked pretty disheveled, and was on foot in a neighborhood where everyone drives. I know I scared her. But I showed the officer my camera, explained what happened, gave him my (out of state) drivers license to run, and everything was fine.  He wished me better luck on my next photo expedition. That was it. 

I made some innocent mistakes that day. It is not hard to imagine a black photographer in the same situation not being granted the privileges I drew on as a white man to reassure the officer of my innocence. I reflected on this story as I thought about the cruel murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and so many more before them at the hands of police or 'concerned neighbors'. These people, these Americans - these fellow human beings were granted no presumption of innocence.

The protests that have now risen up against these injustices in all fifty states and around the world have been inspiring, and the ongoing 'law enforcement' brutality with which they have sometimes been met has been outrageous and sickening.  I'm grateful to all the amateur and professional photographers who have been documenting these events with immense courage. Racism and white supremacy are so deeply embedded in our country.  We were raised in it, it permeates our institutions and economy, and no white person is immune or free from its entrenched presence and privileges.

Sadly in this very medium I love, and celebrate weekly in these newsletters, there is an ugly history replete with examples of photography being used to deliberately prop up and perpetuate systems of racism, bias, and injustice.  

Enough.   We can end this together.  Start with love.  Start with our love for our photography and our photography community, and our desire to make it better and more equitable and inclusive. Start with our love for the people we photograph, and our desire to connect with people and to share this connection with others.  We are photographers.  The word photography literally means 'drawing with light'.  Our tools are our eyes, our hearts, and light.   We can end this darkness.  Stay safe, stay strong, and let's keep snappin' together.  ❤️
James Prochnik

 

▪️Elsa Dorfman created enormous 20x24" polaroid portraits from her studio in Cambridge using one of the biggest cameras you'll ever see for thirty years.  Her work and her life were wonderfully profiled in Erroll Morris's film, The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography.  I highly recommend watching the film which is available now on Netflix and other streaming platforms.  She died last week and was remembered in this NY Times Obituary.

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▪️Are you an independent photographer documenting the ongoing protests who wants to post your images but not them be used by bad actors to potentially harm yourself or people in the images from information they can obtain from your photograph?  Here's an easy to use browser tool that strips the exif data from your images, and allows you to easily blur faces as well. 

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▪️This is an interesting overview of LaToya Ruby Frazier's project, The Geography of Oppression, which documents how the assassination of Martin Luther King led to changes in the physical structure of cities.  

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PHOTOGRAPHY VIDEO OF THE WEEK

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Photographer Michael Wolf had an eye for the quirky and ordinary and the mind of someone who was able to elevate these sometimes mundane subjects into extraordinary fine art through a formal rigor and a keen intelligence.  In this short video (8 minutes) he talked to the Los Angeles Review of Books about some of his most well known projects made in Hong Kong.

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END RACISM IN PHOTOGRAPHY

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Are you interested in how racism can manifest in photography, whether knowingly or unknowingly?  There's a lot to learn.  I'll start with a 1992 essay from Bell Hooks' book Black Looks: Race & Representation called 'Is Paris Burning?' (pdf). It's is a critique of Jenny Livingston's classic movie about Ball Culture, 'Paris is Burning'  The essay is short, 12 pages, but it crackles with energy on every page as it critically examines the movie a gay white woman made about a black and latino lgbtq culture.  If you're a white photographer who makes work in or about black or brown communities, Hooks' questions and critique are a good starting point to interrogate yourself and your work.  In the essay, Hooks' quotes a fellow educator, Patricia Williams, describing an Easter Sunday walking tour she took in Harlem with a group of white folks.  The quote is worth repeating here (emphasis mine):

"What astonished me was that no one had asked the churches if they wanted to be stared at like living museums. I wondered what would happen if a group of blue-jeaned blacks were to walk uninvited Into a synagogue on Passover or Sst. Anthony's of Padua during high mass-just to peer, not pray. My feeling is that such activity would be seen as disrespectful, at the very least. Yet the aspect of disrespect, intrusion, seemed irrelevant to this well- educated, affable group of people. They deflected my observation with comments like ·We just want to look," "No one will mind," and "There's no harm intended.· As well-intentioned as they were, I was left with the impression that no one existed for them who could not be governed by their intentions. While acknowledging the lack of apparent malice in this behavior, I can't help thinking that it is a liability as much as a luxury to live without interaction. To live so completely impervious to one's own impact on others is a fragile privilege, which over time relies not simply on the willingness but on the inability of others-in this case blacks-to make their displeasure heard."

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OPPORTUNITIES / CALLS FOR ENTRY

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Photography Curatorial Fellowship

Photographer Geoffrey Biddle was featured in issue 36 of the NYC Photo Community Newsletter. He and his family are launching two curatorial fellowships - one around his photography, and one around the work of his late wife, sculptor Mary Ann Unger.  These are well paid positions, and a great opportunity for art and photography curators.  Full info on the positions here.  Deadline June 15. Please spread the word.

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Photo Lucida Critical Mass 2020 - Registration Now Open

Critical Mass is an annual online program that makes connections within the photography community. Photographers at any level, from anywhere in the world, submit a portfolio of 10 images.
Through a pre-screening process, the field is narrowed to a group of 200 finalists who go on to have their work viewed and voted on by over 200 esteemed international photography professionals.
From the finalist group, the Top 50 are named and a series of awards are given. In the past, awards have included a monograph award, residency awards, solo show awards, and group show inclusion. Critical Mass 2020 will open in May, and remain open for submissions for about four weeks.
More Information / Apply: (here)
Submission Deadline: June 19th ($60 to enter)

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Photoville Fence - Open Call

"This year-round public photography project is an opportunity to have your work seen in 9 major parks and downtowns across North America: Atlanta, Brooklyn, Calgary, Denver, Durham, Houston, Sarasota, Seattle, and Winchester. Photographers of all levels from around the world are invited to submit their work reflecting one of the following themes: People, Streets, Play, Nature, Food, Home, and Creatures.
More Information / Apply: (here)
Submission Deadline: June 11, 2020 ($35 and pay what you can entry) (LAST WEEK TO ENTER)

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Photo Emphasis - 'Backtalk - Open Call'

PHOTO-EMPHASIS is pleased to announce BACKTALK, our fifth juried exhibition. We’re looking to exhibit fresh, diverse work by emerging and established artists. What is missing from contemporary photographic discourse? Who is missing from contemporary photographic discourse? Now more than ever, it’s imperative to critically examine the photographic canon, to expand it to include who and what is missing. We want to see work that is irreverent, that challenges authority, and calls bullshit on prevailing notions of what photography is and should be in 2020. BACKTALK, juried by Aaron Turner, will consist of an online exhibition hosted here on the PHOTO-EMPHASIS website, as well as a smaller physical exhibition at The Center for Photographers of Color at the University of Arkansas. The physical exhibition will be scheduled and held at a later date, when it is safe to do so.
More Information / Apply: (here)
Submission Deadline: July 5, 2020 ($5 and a fee waiver for photographers having financial hardship) 

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NYC Photo Community Newsletter

We want to feature YOUR work  Follow @nycphotocommunity and tag your photos @nycphotocommunity or #nycphotocommunity to be considered.  If you've enjoyed what you read, please spread the word by sharing this subscription link.  Thanks!