Shutter Sisters Cross-post: Shooting For Transformation
Photo from March 10, 2011 Immigration Rights March in Chicago
(A version of this post appears on Shutter Sisters.)
You thought you were going to change the world with your photography, didn't you? You stepped into that struggle, camera in hand, thinking you would "help" these people by telling their stories through your lens. You meant well, you truly wanted to help, but guess what? It wasn't about YOU. It still isn't about YOU. It's about US. It's about SOLIDARITY. It's about the intersectionality of all the struggles of all who are oppressed. It's about how there can't be justice for one until there is justice for all. It's about letting people tell their own stories, even if you are the one behind the camera, framing the image and clicking the shutter, because we all know that we as photographers can control the story we tell by what we choose to capture and share.
And if you can get over yourself and open your eyes and your ears and your heart, YOU are the one who will be transformed, the one who will be humbled by the stories of The People, the one who will no longer show up as the aloof photojournalist but as a brother or sister in solidarity, the one who is there because you recognize that your liberation is tied to the liberation of all who struggle, the one who will never be the same.
"If you have come to help me you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together... " ~ Aboriginal Activist
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And when I use the term "you" above, I am talking about myself. This is the story of my own personal experience documenting social justice movements in Chicago for the past six months. I write about this after having experienced May Day, which is celebrated around the world on May 1st as International Worker's Day and here in Chicago as a day to also highlight immigrant rights, which are also worker's rights, which are also human rights.
I really thought my photography was going to change the world, I really did. What I learned instead, was that I was the one in need of transformation.
Monday, May 2, 2011 at 9:00AM | Permalink 
Reader Comments (1)
Powerful post. I think the feeling behind it applies broadly to us as humans. If we open our eyes, our ears, our minds, we see each other as humans, as the same, as a brother, a sister, as family. I think that recognition comes first. Or at least that's been my experience, but I'm still in the thick of it. Still changing with an inner struggle against long standing, internalized, but incorrect pre-conceptions. It's hard to fight against something so deeply embedded in you, but it comes to the point when you can't ignore it. It's smacking you on your face everywhere you look. And your heart begins to change and fight with itself.
Sorry for the rambling. Your post echoes so many feelings I've had lately. Thank you for sharing your journey.