The Strength of a Woman: Power, Pain and Liberation

The Strength of a Woman: Power, Pain and Liberation

What is it about Mary J. Blige that is amazing? Everything. She is a super star, first class performer, great voice, authentic and transparent.  My wife and I love Mary J. Blige and we have been fans since the early days.  Mary and her music are simply the best.  Her songs tell stories.  Stories of pain, power, desire, disappoint, hope, ecstasy, and love.  Yes, love.  I can’t help but feel Mary is a person filled with love and whenever you see her you really feel like she loves her fans, and we sure do love her back.

The show last night was simply amazing. Mary took us all the way back and brought us up to her new work.  The Wolf Creek Amphitheater was packed and we didn’t sit down the entire show.  We sang every song, did the Mary J. dance and to put is simply the choir was in the house.  While I was there as a true fan and follower I couldn’t take my preacher hat off.  There was something spiritual about this gathering of faithful Mary followers.

The band of followers weren’t Mary worshippers but Mary took us to a place of worship.  We were in touch with life’s twists and turns, ups and downs and the power of God to get us through what we have gone through.  The honesty in Mary’s songs and her re-telling of these stories through song took us to a place of truth.  Her telling of her story honestly and transparently meant we felt her.  As she shared her pain, her hope and her refusal to give up on life gave us life.  She didn’t tell us all is well but she told us all will be well.  She let us know we will get through what we are going through because we got through what we went through.  She showed us the power of music to minister to us and pull us through the hard times. She also pointed us directly to God as she was clear that it was God and good friends who got her through and continue to get her through.

There is something about Mary J. Blige and her body of work.  She is once in a lifetime artist.  I am so thankful to God for creating her for this time.  To have experienced her and her work has been and continues to be such a blessing.  Mary has inspired me to be a better husband, a better pastor, a transparent/authentic story teller and to not be afraid of sharing my story because in sharing others are liberated with me.  Mary,  “Thanks for being a model for me, for putting on a great show that did more than entertain. Thanks for the liberative work you do to set us free to be free and get through this thing called life!”  What does Mary mean to you?  How has she or other artists spoken to your life?

Photojournalism 2014 Style: Getting the Word-Out & Getting the People Involved

Wilson Hicks

“Its elements used in combination do not produce a third and new medium.  Instead, they form a complex in which each of the components retains its fundamental character, since words are distinctly one kind of medium, pictures another.  Of various dissimilarities in the mediums the one most pertinent to understanding of the photojournalistic technique is to be found in the ways in which they activate certain subjective responses in the reader.”

Wilson Hicks

 Photographic Communication: Principles, Problems and Challenges of Photojournalism  p. 19

 Wilson Hicks was the photographic editor of Life Magazine  from 1937 to 1950.  It was Hicks who built the photography staff at Life Magazine  from 4 to 40. He was also a professor of photojournalism at the University of Miami from 1955 to 1970.  In many way Hicks can be considered one of the fathers / mothers of photojournalism.  He understood this delicate marriage between the still photograph and the power of the printed word.  The picture didn’t stand alone in the context of the story but rather the picture served as a key component of the story; the picture took center stage while being surrounded by a caption and written copy.  As Hicks says in the quote above these two mediums weren’t melted into a third medium but rather they were two distinct mediums that serve to “activate certain subjective responses in the reader.”  It is interesting that he calls the subject reacting “the reader.”  Isn’t the reader also a viewer?  The subject that engages these mediums are viewing and reading, reading and viewing, while being moved as the story is constructed in such a way to provoke movement.  The work of photojournalism is to achieve a “subject response” from the viewer / reader.  The goal of my work is to take this principle of “provoking a subjective response in my viewer / reader”  specifically in response to social stratification and gentrification in the Atlanta area.

Hicks and his team of photographers and editors were very intentional about their work.  They had a   They constructed their “picture stories” in such away to advance their cause.  I look back on this time with romantic rose-colored glasses. Once I clean my glasses off and situate myself in the present I ask myself, “How can I do what Hicks and his team did in the time of Life Magazine?”  I answer myself by saying:

point of view, they didn’t claim some unachievable objectivity.

       1. You must create / make images that are so moving and compelling that they demand that the viewer stop, look and ask questions.

       2. You must create a community conversation around the issues you feel passionate about and that need to be addressed.
    3. You must use the tools you have at your disposal in this age to get the word-out.  The magazine as we knew it no longer exist but in an age of social media / multi-media you can and must communicate in new and timely ways.  The community of concerned activists citizens can be developed and sustained via virtual mediums.

      4. You must become an activist in regards to the issue(s) you feel passionate about.

The model of Life Magazine and Wilson Hicks was founded on iconic  images arranged in the format of story that served to move the reader.  It is this story format that will work today.  We are wired for story and the power is in the story as told via the images and multi / mixed media that both informs and moves those who engage the work.  What is the historical foundation your work is built upon?  How are you updated that foundation to work in a changed world?   

BBC Documentary on Life Magazine

The photographers who did the work!
http://life.time.com/photographers/

Change or Be Left Behind!

Stephen Mayes

“Although some changes are painful, we have a rare and privileged opportunity to challenge the conventions that have limited the understanding of photography, and to create new models of visual storytelling.”

Stephen Mayes

“Toward a New Documentary Expression” in Aperture 214, p, 33

Stephen Mayes pushes me to think about how I share the story I am trying to tell. The story of Sweet Auburn is a story rooted in history that is being propelled into the future.  The question we must raise is, “Will we forget?”  Mayes argues that we have to tell powerful stories and place in the context of where our people are comfortable (Flickr, Vine, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter, blogosphere).  This means that we can no longer wait for people to find us but rather we must take our message to the people and find our audience.  While Mayes is referencing photography his message transcends photography.  Mayes is saying to us that the world has changed; we have to find away to live into this change and allow this changing time to change us.

The wonderful privileged time I live in, as a storyteller is that I don’t have to wait for a publication or broadcaster to pick up my story.  I can use the tools at my fingertips to tell my story.  Not only can I use the tools at my fingertips but I can also tell more dynamic stories by using a multi / mixed media approach to storytelling.  Moreover if I have the time I can spend time on my story and tell a story over time and not reduce it to a sound bite or single news / documentary story.  I embrace the times and challenge that Mayes lays out.  The question for you and us is are we embracing the changing times in your industry(s)?  How are you changing what you do to take what you do to the people? How will you allow the way the world has changed – change you so that you can hear and be heard?

Stephen Mayeshttp://www.stephenmayes.co

Aperturehttp://www.aperture.org

What Does It Mean to Black and Free in America in 2014?

What Does It Mean to Be Free?

What is the question?

This past Saturday I attended a panel discussion at the Auburn Research Library, “The Illusion of Freedom: The Reality of Black Life in America Since the Emancipation Proclamation”.  It was one of those panels that we could sit and engage in meaningful conversation for days, not just hours.  What does it mean to be free in an economic system built on the foundation of capitalism that is inherently unjust and profits off underpaying those it uses to make profits?  Can we find true freedom in a system that is inherently oppressive?  We can argue for African American entrepreneurship and our patronizing these businesses, which I support, but in doing so are we not right back into the trap of capitalism?  I wonder if we can talk about a mitigated freedom in the bowels of capitalism that serves us well in the form of psychological, spiritual and emotional freedom.  While I thoroughly enjoy these types of panels and discussions I always come away wondering if we are asking the right questions.  The brilliance on the panel was amazing and the questions they discussed were moving.  It was important to have this conversation on the sacred ground of Sweet Auburn because it reminded us of the limitations of capitalism and freedom as it relates to history and memory.  When economic wealth is the goal and a key component of how we understand and define freedom we have to then ask the question what does wealth do to memory, relationship, ethics, morals and communal freedom?  How do we connect the dots to define what freedom is and how do we work together collectively to achieve it?

We Are Ready to Talk About IT!

What are they talking about?

Really...I don't have a problem with ...well yes I do....

How Sweet It Is: Pop Up Shops and Sweet Auburn

Let's Ride

This weekend marked the opening of the pop-up shops along Sweet Auburn.  The vibe on the street this Saturday was new and alive but not yet full.  I spent most of my time at Civil Bikes.  Civil Bikes is closest to the historic center of Sweet Auburn and they are trying to hold onto that history as it is a part of the next chapter.  As I walk along the street on Saturday while the shops are spread out you could sense the future, you could see it, smell it and feel it.  The true next chapter of Sweet Auburn is firmly in the oven and the flour is about to become cake.

http://www.atlantadowntown.com/business/pop-up-retail

Sweet Auburn is Yet Alive: Riding with Civil Bikes and Motorcycle Cops

Nedra Deadwyler

I returned to Sweet Auburn today after a ten-week break. The return was one of joyful surprise.  The street is changing already!   You can literally see the change in progress. 

What made my return joyful was running into Nedra Deadwyler, at 344 Auburn Avenue and her new shop, Tour Atlanta with Civil Bikes.  As Sweet Auburn transitions to its new identity I have been open about my concern for how or if the history of this area will be maintained and woven into the fabric of this transformation. While I continue to have my concerns I am so encouraged by businesses like Nedra’s that is concerned about the history.  I firmly believe that Nedra will continue to tell the stories and keep the history alive.  Her biking tours are links to the history of our dear city and this historic district.

Nedra has created that neat balance of respecting and continuing the history with her Civil Bikes while not neglecting the establishment of an entrepreneurial niche.  I love it!  She is obviously brilliant and passionate.  Her love for Atlanta and the rich history of our city exudes out of her.  I am so excited to see Civil Bikes as one of the first new businesses to emerge as a part of the face of  the “New Sweet Auburn.”  I encourage you to stop by and visit.  They have some big things planned for June 2014 and I will keep you posted.  Go to their website and check them out!

Tour Atlanta with Civil Bikes

Contact Nedra...she is waiting to hear from you!

An Encounter with Officer B. White of the Atlanta Police Department

Officer B. White

And in other news I was met today by Officer B. White ….no I am not being funny and I am not making this up.  As I was doing my normal walking and taking pictures I get to the corner of Auburn and Courtland where and I see an officer on a motorcycle approaching the scene.  This looked interesting so I prepare to capture the moment.  Being a street photographer I am focused on capturing the shoot, so I compose the shoot and create the picture.  Well, Officer B. White gets off is his motorcycle and tells me I can’t take pictures of him and I better erase any image I took of him!  I respond, “With all due respect Mr. Officer I can take your picture.  This is a public space; there is no expectation of privacy and I have a right to take pictures.”  He continues to rebuke me and I mean rebuke me. I “stand my ground” as a street photographer and ask him to cite the law that says I can’t take his picture or street photographs.  He responds with a story about how people have been taking pictures of officers and posting them on social media sites after they have been altered and officers have been getting in trouble with their superiors.  He then tells me I better not put his picture on Facebook!  I respond by giving him my press pass and informing him of my rights.  Street photographers stand your ground, take your pictures and record history.

Know Your Rights as a Photographer