{"id":176472418,"date":"2017-04-01T23:49:17","date_gmt":"2017-04-02T04:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/?p=176472418"},"modified":"2017-04-01T23:49:17","modified_gmt":"2017-04-02T04:49:17","slug":"video-photographer-sheila-pree-bright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/2017\/04\/01\/video-photographer-sheila-pree-bright\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO: Photographer Sheila Pree Bright"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_176472419\" style=\"width: 207px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/salon-logo.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-176472419\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-176472419\" src=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/salon-logo.jpg\" alt=\"MONDAY, MAR 27, 2017\" width=\"197\" height=\"52\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-176472419\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">MONDAY, MAR 27, 2017<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1><a href=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Sheila-Pree-Bright.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-176472424\" src=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Sheila-Pree-Bright.jpg\" alt=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" width=\"601\" height=\"603\" srcset=\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Sheila-Pree-Bright.jpg 720w, http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Sheila-Pree-Bright-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Sheila-Pree-Bright-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 601px) 100vw, 601px\" \/><\/a><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><b><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/201440515\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/201440515\">Election 2016:  Lens Across America | EPIX<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/sheilapreebright\">sheila pree bright<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\">Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p> <\/b><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\">Photographer <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\">Sheila Pree Bright<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\"> demonstrates how <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\">little has changed <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 36pt;\">in exhibit \u201c#1960NOW\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Through film, portraits and protest images,<br \/>\nBright connects activists from the 1960s<br \/>\nwith those of today<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>BY RACHEL LEAH<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"featuredMedia\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_18_1_11_1491099112830_137\" class=\"floating-player\">\n<div class=\"player-position\">\n<div class=\"stop-floating\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"player-5zcgwYfY\" class=\"jwplayer jw-reset jw-state-buffering jw-skin-salon jw-stretch-uniform jw-flag-aspect-mode jw-breakpoint-3 jw-flag-ads-googleima jw-flag-ads jw-flag-user-inactive\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"jw-aspect jw-reset\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"jw-overlays jw-reset\">\n<div id=\"player-5zcgwYfY_googima\" class=\"jw-plugin jw-reset\">\n<div id=\"player-5zcgwYfY_ad\"><b><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2017\/03\/27\/photographer-sheila-pree-bright-demonstrates-how-little-has-changed-in-exhibit-1960now\/context-video\" width=\"100%\" height=\"350\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe> <\/b><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_18_1_9_1491099112830_28\" class=\"ob-rm articleContent-container\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_18_1_9_1491099112830_27\" class=\"articleContent\">\n<div id=\"pre-continue\" class=\"ob-element\">\n<div class=\"editorsNote\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 10pt;\"><strong>This Salon video was produced by Peter Cooper<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><br \/>\nThere are images of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/arts-and-entertainment\/wp\/2015\/06\/28\/who-is-bree-newsome-why-the-woman-who-took-down-the-confederate-flag-became-an-activist\/?utm_term=.de6b2452ee05\" target=\"_blank\">Bree Newsome<\/a>, the woman who scaled a\u00a0pole and removed the Confederate flag in North Carolina; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.myajc.com\/news\/lonnie-king-more-than-five-decades-later-work-remains\/0wSUjKa6GcjuJaAZDtQooJ\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lonnie King Jr.<\/a>, who co-founded the Atlanta Student Movement and led sit-ins in segregated establishments during the civil rights movement; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OwHvCy-a-Pg\" target=\"_blank\">Kwame Rose<\/a>, who confronted Geraldo Rivera of Fox News about its biased reporting during protests in Baltimore; <a href=\"https:\/\/ndaraya.wordpress.com\/2016\/09\/28\/roslyn-pope-atlanta-student-movement-icon\/\" target=\"_blank\">Rosyln Pope<\/a>, who drafted <a href=\"http:\/\/www.crmvet.org\/docs\/aa4hr.htm\" target=\"_blank\">an \u00a0appeal for human rights<\/a> in 1960; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/projects\/storywall\/transgender-today\/stories\/raquel-willis\" target=\"_blank\">Raquel Willis<\/a>, a trans activist and writer of color. These are just some of the icons photographed by artist-photographer Sheila Pree Bright for her exhibit \u201c1960NOW.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Bright lives in Atlanta\u00a0and began her project by photographing<br \/>\nand discovering lesser-known activists from the civil\u00a0rights<br \/>\nmovement and the city\u2019s profound organizing history. Then<br \/>\nTrayvon Martin was killed.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">So\u00a0she felt compelled to get on the ground\u00a0and inside communities to capture \u201cthe pain, the love and the frustration\u201d\u00a0of the Black Lives Matter movement that was growing across the country, Bright said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Her portraits evolved from a body of work called \u201c#1960WHO\u201d to become \u201c#1960NOW.\u201d Her framework became intergenerational and she took portraits \u201cof the elders and the young people to talk about our humanity,\u201d\u00a0she said. Bright photographed in Ferguson, Missouri; Baltimore, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The portraits have\u00a0a\u00a0tight focus on the eyes\u00a0and only in one does a subject smile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cI wanted them to show confidence,\u201d Bright said. But Charles Black \u2014 a leader in the Atlanta Student Movement in the 1960s \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0even smiled in his portrait. \u201cI don\u2019t want you to smile,\u201d Bright instructed. Black replied to her, \u201cThat\u2019s how I got through the movement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201c#1960NOW\u201d calls on viewers to seriously explore the connections\u00a0between the civil rights movement and the Black Lives Matter movement. It puts aside differences in leadership modes and the debate over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dissentmagazine.org\/article\/the-rise-of-respectability-politics\" target=\"_blank\">respectability politics<\/a>. \u201c#1960NOW\u201d creates a type of dialogue and solidarity between the two generations and their methods of activism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">There\u2019s Mike Brown Sr., father of the slain Ferguson teen, marching with his head down\u00a0and wearing a hoodie that reads, \u201cMike Brown chosen for change.\u201d There\u2019s singer-actor Janelle Monae, with her eyes closed, her head tilted back in anguish. There are three young girls holding signs staring intensely, a woman with tears pouring down her face that are visible even from behind her large sunglasses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cIt becomes very emotional being on the ground. I\u2019m not on the sidelines photographing, I get within the march and walk with them, and talk with them, and photograph,\u201d Bright said. \u201cI\u2019m not just clicking the shutter of the camera, I\u2019m looking for moments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Although Bright describes herself as an\u00a0observer, she resists being labeled\u00a0a a photo journalist. There was a deliberate effort on her part to show the nuance of the Black Lives Matter movement that many mainstream media outlets had missed, she said.\u00a0\u201cThey depict angry black males; they\u2019re thugs; they\u2019re criminals,\u201d she said about\u00a0how\u00a0mainstream outlets\u00a0have represented communities of color, which results in mistrust.<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cI want you to see the pain,\u201d she said about her work. \u201cI want you<br \/>\nto feel these people and look at these black bodies as human.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_18_1_9_1491099112830_26\" class=\"toggle-group target hideOnInit\" data-toggle-group=\"story-14723552\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">But this\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0so easy to accomplish. Bright was in Baltimore when Freddie Gray passed away and the following day when protests began. \u201cI didn\u2019t know anybody, and I literally got cussed out. They said \u2018we don\u2019t want you here\u2019 \u2014 because the only time that you come into these neighborhoods is for something negative.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cSo I had to gain their trust and I started talking to a woman that lived in the community,\u201d Bright said. A\u00a0woman opened her home and became Bright\u2019s\u00a0entry and guide to the neighborhood. \u201cIn all of my work, even if it wasn\u2019t a protest . . . they had to trust me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">There\u2019s a film component to\u00a0the exhibit as well. Like the photographs, it\u2019s a mashup of iconic moments in the history of black protest: Nina Simone declaring the artist must <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0qL3nHvliN4\" target=\"_blank\">reflect<\/a> the times; Janelle Monae chanting \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/what-happened-to-sandra-bland\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sandra Bland<\/a>\u201d in New York City; speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biography.com\/people\/stokely-carmichael-9238629\" target=\"_blank\">Kwame Ture<\/a> (formerly known as\u00a0Stokely Carmichael) and Kwame Rose going toe-to-toe with the Fox News anchor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cOn the ground, young people were saying to me, \u2018We are fighting the same fights our parents and our grandparents were fighting.\u2019 So I wanted to show that connection through film,\u201d Bright said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">But by photographing contemporary activists who are trans, undocumented and on a spectrum of gender and sexuality, Bright doesn\u2019t\u00a0gloss over the engagement with identity politics that\u00a0is central to Black Lives Matter.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-content_2 in-article\"><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">For the future, Bright hopes the commitment\u00a0to protest, especially under the new administration, remains sincere.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI went to the women\u2019s march in Atlanta and it was a totally different vibe from me shooting protest images,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cAnd even though this was a protest, I felt like it was more like a parade. People were taking their selfies, they were shaking the cops\u2019 hands and everybody was just so happy about it, and for me, I was questioning how long is this going to last?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">\u201cA lot of these women were mothers,\u201d Bright observed, asking, \u201cWhere was the compassion when 12-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/video\/2014\/nov\/26\/cleveland-video-tamir-rice-shooting-police\" target=\"_blank\">Tamir Rice<\/a> was killed?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_18_1_9_1491099112830_35\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">For Bright the answer to that question hasn\u2019t been so clear and she\u00a0wonders\u00a0whether protesters really try to learn about one another or if they exist in separate bubbles. She finds partial engagement to be privileged and unequal. \u201cWhen a black person or person of color is born, you\u2019re born into the movement,\u201d she said. \u201cWhether you like it or not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">After all, one emblematic sign\u00a0from\u00a0the women\u2019s march in Los Angeles in January, carried by\u00a0Persian-American actor Amir Talai, \u00a0captured a lot of attention and <a href=\"http:\/\/fusion.net\/story\/382776\/amir-talai-viral-photo-womens-march-nice-white-ladies-black-lives-matter\/\" target=\"_blank\">sparked\u00a0a lot of discussion<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ll see you nice white ladies at the next #blacklivesmatter march right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&gt;via:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2017\/03\/27\/photographer-sheila-pree-bright-demonstrates-how-little-has-changed-in-exhibit-1960now\/#.WNkhsLWumX0.twitter\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2017\/03\/27\/photographer-sheila-pree-bright-demonstrates-how-little-has-changed-in-exhibit-1960now\/#.WNkhsLWumX0.twitter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Photographer Sheila Pree Bright demonstrates how little has changed in exhibit \u201c#1960NOW\u201d Through film, portraits and protest images, Bright connects activists from the 1960s with those of today BY RACHEL LEAH &nbsp; &nbsp; This Salon video was produced by Peter Cooper &nbsp; There are images of\u00a0Bree Newsome, the woman who scaled [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[6],"tags":[4,12,11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176472418"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176472418"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176472418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176472461,"href":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176472418\/revisions\/176472461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176472418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176472418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176472418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}