two

While photography presents itself as a medium of observation, it is also one of exchange. Just as text today is fluid, able to link from one discursive space to another (as exemplified by the chain icon in design contexts), photographs can make links from one frame to another. It is an historical symbiosis, how one photograph extends from the structure of another. In my photographs lately, I’ve been witnessing a complementarity that allows the strict borders of one image to slur across into an adjoining image. Sometimes the seams are not what they seem. One image plus one image can equal more than two.

The social function of the photography ecosystem is perhaps no different than any other space of exchange. Some interactions have meaning, and enhance the power of both sides. Other interactions are more imbalanced, and tend to favor one side at the expense of the other. If one person wins, the zero-sum argument on this front holds, another person must lose. One person with a presumption of power holds another in check. Increasing one’s value implies the devaluation of the other. 

Who gains from this skewed system if an exchange isn’t mutually beneficial? Looked at another way, what do we all lose when chauvinistic power dynamics destroy individual contributions? Doesn’t the whole ecosystem suffer from the poisonous misbehavior of one community member?

I believe it does. My personal value system holds respect at the highest level. I have always brought respect to my interactions with others. Apparently not everyone acts like this.

Early in my travels a friend told me that I had had encounters with two of the (then three) “biggest assholes in photography.” Clearly, not everyone prioritizes respect. There are misaligned goals, self-interest, and cruel intentions at play. Since that early marker, I’ve had encounters with many more assholes. Without exception, the perpetrators have been white men. As reported to me by many female friends, the abuse they’ve suffered at the hands of predatory men of multiple skin colors has been a dominant, traumatic factor in their career paths. #metoo is not just a momentary meme but an enduring call to arms, to dismantle the inequitable and unfair system we call the photo world.

Not everyone we meet in our travels has good or even equitable intentions. We must be careful how we build our networks; watch out for malignancies and root them out as they appear. Expose them to the light which causes their demise. Honor and respect those who speak out, as such action requires enormous courage and deserves support. Exchanges must enhance the parties on both sides of the seam. The sum must be more than the parts, and it should never be zero.