WE WALK TALL
The women in this series generously volunteered to be seen, not just for themselves but for the strong people they come from.
On November 8th, 2016, the United States presidential elections resulted in an eruption of hate crimes, threats to women's rights, and a level of social upheaval not seen in decades.
As a woman of Lebanese and Ashkenazi descent, I was frightened; I wanted to keep my head down, hide, and be safe. This impulse continued to grow until one night at a dinner party. Some friends chatted nearby when I overheard, "At least we're white." With those words, I knew hiding was not the right choice. Women of color needed to be seen and heard and not shy away in uncertain times.
As I drove home, the radio aired "Walk Tall" by Cannonball Adderley featuring Rev. Jesse Jackson. The song played, and the imagery for this series surfaced in my mind.
I envisioned a regal and classic look and wanted to give the women a point of reference for the portrait sessions. So, I called back to my studio art days and began looking at paintings by John Singer Sargent. Ultimately, I decided what better aesthetic to reference than the prestige of pose, lighting, and color palette used in 19th-century American presidential portraits.
When I first pictured this work, I saw a woman wrapped in the American flag, an act of reclaiming and reaffirming her rights. My grandfather, who was Ashkenazi Jewish, served in WWII. At the same time, he and my grandmother lost family in Europe to the Holocaust. He's the person who gave me my appreciation for history and an understanding of taking action for injustice. So, I chose to carefully use the burial flag he was honored with for his service during World War II in these photographs.
When titling the work, I chose to omit common ethnic identifying prefixes to "American" to represent our equality.
This work only examines one tiny sliver of the complexity of being a woman of color in the United States. Our origin stories range from indigenous people, who have always been here, to those whose ancestors were stolen away and forced onto this land in bondage and those who migrated in the hopes of a safer home. However, we all share the common thread of supporting each other with resiliency and perseverance.
