simplyann

In PDN’s defense, it “has been covering the professional photographic industry for over two decades.” It has become an institutionalized, industry publication and therefore, partly by definition of institutionalized, left out those at the margins. It has never been challenged - and I mean truly challenged, economically challenged - to discover what exists at the margins. Neither has any other institution in the United States until recently. That’s another thing; PDN is AMERICAN. It comes with the baggage of America’s race problem, America’s post-race myth and the general American schizophrenic approach to issues of race, class and gender. It’s part of a system of -isms that can’t be pinned on the photojournalism industry alone. You photographers aren’t special! We’ve got the same issues in higher education, healthcare and in the workforce.

The biggest -ism that drives PDN (and all other institutionally racist systems) is CAPITALISM. Yeah, I said it. There’s nothing wrong with capitalism when you are born and raised into its system and part of the majority. But when you’re historically disadvantaged (read: NOT WHITE) you are painfully aware of each and every locked door and blocked opportunity afforded you because of your skin color or economic class. Unfortunately Photo Grapher above me misunderstands the reason why black males dominate our (INSTITUTIONALIZED) sports industry. If watching athletes compete in regulated ways to chase balls, pucks and all manner of objects didn’t make for a billion dollar industry, we would see something else take the place. Like say, politics.

This is why we get gritty subjects. Photographing naked people in the jungles of the Amazon and essentially telling their stories for them sells a magazine *in the same way* skinny white women distorted and objectified in the most amazing ways sells an image. Try finding an image of a black man graduating college with three buddies on Getty Images. I’ll wait. Good luck. Try finding an image of a Guatemalan family celebrating a birthday on Getty Images. I’ll wait. Not “Mexican” or “Latino”. Guatemalan. Good luck.

My point is if the images won’t sell, there’s little reason to publish them. And the people who decide what sells have historically been white men and the occasional white woman. While their expertise in the subject manner shouldn’t be trivialized, they (as a matter of fact, WE) have been part of this trajectory since the category of race was INVENTED to justify cheap labor. PDN’s excuse is that it’s part of the system.

“duckrabbit are master storytellers. They don’t just tell people about what you do, they make them care about what you do.” Paul Murphy, Director C21 VOX