I like these points, Hannah! I think as I get older as a photographer, I am embracing the overlap between my client work and my identity. I think it's good to be weary about how much of your perspective and background bleeds into the work and sometimes it can add to the story but I can see sometimes it may be draining too. Trying to find that healthy balance of both to make work we're proud of. But it's inevitable that people hiring you may take all of it into account and I don't think that's necessarily good or bad.
Reminds me of some thoughts I had around Steve McCurry and the idea of an "outsider" going into a community to make portraits and document scenes to tell a story to the "western" world. The age old "insider" versus "outsider" argument. I think identity does matter when presenting the work but it just gives it a specific angle that a viewer should consider. So they can recognize biases or justify a particular look at any issue or story.
Beautiful post, Hannah, and appreciate the link. I also love to see your work in context of the news stories. At this current time in politics and where I stand now looking back, I'm not sure who and why a certain person gets hired anymore. Our multitudes bring so much experience and perspectives, but with how everything is becoming so competitive and political these days, I'm starting to believe that luck and timing plays a disportionate part in it.
This is a really interesting post! I’ve been thinking about something similar myself recently on the parts about identity - being mixed race, I’m not always perceived the same way as how I feel inside, and I think it can limit us when we feel boxed in to just one identity. Thanks for sharing!
I like these points, Hannah! I think as I get older as a photographer, I am embracing the overlap between my client work and my identity. I think it's good to be weary about how much of your perspective and background bleeds into the work and sometimes it can add to the story but I can see sometimes it may be draining too. Trying to find that healthy balance of both to make work we're proud of. But it's inevitable that people hiring you may take all of it into account and I don't think that's necessarily good or bad.
Reminds me of some thoughts I had around Steve McCurry and the idea of an "outsider" going into a community to make portraits and document scenes to tell a story to the "western" world. The age old "insider" versus "outsider" argument. I think identity does matter when presenting the work but it just gives it a specific angle that a viewer should consider. So they can recognize biases or justify a particular look at any issue or story.
Beautiful post, Hannah, and appreciate the link. I also love to see your work in context of the news stories. At this current time in politics and where I stand now looking back, I'm not sure who and why a certain person gets hired anymore. Our multitudes bring so much experience and perspectives, but with how everything is becoming so competitive and political these days, I'm starting to believe that luck and timing plays a disportionate part in it.
I liked this reminder that we all contain multitudes :)
sometimes even I pigeonhole myself so it's a practice to access my multitudes :)
This is a really interesting post! I’ve been thinking about something similar myself recently on the parts about identity - being mixed race, I’m not always perceived the same way as how I feel inside, and I think it can limit us when we feel boxed in to just one identity. Thanks for sharing!