Get The Photographs Out
I started my people series, people outside against a portable white background, in Shanghai China in 2010. Since then I’ve taken the series to San Miguel de Allende Mexico, Selma Alabama, Venice Beach Los Angeles, and northern India. I am anticipating more work in Selma and across the American south and then on to western Africa. This series is my excuse to see the world.
To be frank, there are many photographers that do similar work - from Richard Avedon’s In ‘The American West’ to a multi-year series on New Yorkers in New York Magazine. This style isolates people. It strips out the information density of the environment and focuses on the person, their gestures, and clothing. In my mind, if this series is extended to different locations it starts to edge into visual anthropology or ethnographic photography. I wrote about this - Which Is It? Photography, Visual Anthropology or Ethnography?
I’ll talk more about the why and how of my series and its future in another blog post. Today I want to start to discuss the subject of how we present our photographs. In this case, how I got the work out into the community.
OK, How to Show Photographs
My La Gente series was shot in my hometown of San Miguel de Allende with the help of two assistants. La Gente means the people and I photographed over a hundred people spanning out from Centro, to local neighborhoods, small towns, and fairs. A key element for me was to determine how to get the photographs out to the people in a very diverse town.
I did the usual: I created a dedicated website, a Facebook page, and an Instagram account.
But, these platforms are too digital for a large segment of San Miguel’s population. So, I created and printed a ‘newspaper’ or zine of the work that I, with a small team, distributed hand to hand across town. People smiled as many saw friends in the portrait series. That was 2018.
Uncover The Faces
It is now 2021 and I still have some zines stacked in my garage. I decided to continue distribution but with a twist. Because La Gente was shot when we could see faces and today we are covered up, I decided to add a red stamp to the cover with the words… SAN MIGUEL de ALLENDE - PRE CUBREBOCA. As in, ‘San Miguel de Allende before face masks’. People dig it. We miss seeing noses and mouths. And, smiles.
La Gente Zine. Now with the Covid-19 related stamp.