Author: r.rodriguez1

Crushing the Patriarchy One Print and Zine at a Time

For my final project I want to focus on the 2nd annual Print and Zine Fest at New Women Space (in Brooklyn). The event is hosted by Got a Girl Crush, a blog and annual print magazine about women and by women, and will take place on November 19. They describe their line-up as “emerging female/fem-identifying/non-binary/trans/gender non-conforming lead zines and print-makers” focusing not only on general societal issues for women, but also with some zine and print makers focusing their work for women of color. A zine itself is almost like a short magazine that is self published and usually includes topics not usually discussed by mainstream media. I have reached out to Got a Girl Crush and have secured access to interview them and record/photograph the event in general.

Since President Trump was elected last year, immigrants and their families say they have had more reason to fear of racism and deportation. From the end of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, raids. For those who are immigrants or have immigrant family members it has been an emotional year. And for some ICE agents who have to conduct these raids it has been a very conflicting year. Rachel Rodriguez has the story.

With the media coverage on DACA and deportations people who don’t understand it tend to say that people should just apply for residency and citizenship. During Trump’s campaign and election the number of citizenship applications increased dramatically. The problem is it is not a simple process and definitely not a short one. Obtaining residency can take years and citizenship even longer. I would like to document this experience by speaking with people who have become a permanent resident and people who have become citizens. I also want to include the challenges they face during the process as well as their experience before it.

Peace Lantern Festival

There were so many amazing and interesting exhibitions and Photoville. All of them told their own stories and the stories of others. However, the exhibition that really stood out to me was Insider/Outsider presented by Women Photograph. Women Photograph is unique and important to the photojournalism community because they aim to ensure the representation of women photographers in an industry that’s very male dominated.

Insider/Outsider focuses on the relationship between the photographer and the subject. Those who personally know the subject consider themselves insiders. Insiders are able to have more access and photograph their subjects in more intimate settings. Outsiders have more limited access and perhaps no actual relationship with the subject other than they are telling their story.

The photographer of this image above is Raphaela Rosella. Raphaela and her subject, Tricia, are both from the same town in Australia. They both grew up in the same area and have had similar life experiences. They met over 10 years ago at a community arts organization. What I found to be so interesting about this is that the photographer actually sat and breastfed her own child while with Tricia. Raphaela is an insider as she is able to share experiences with this young woman and capture this moment.

Katia Repina, the photographer of this image, is working on a project that depicts the lives of intersex people. The subject here is a 35 year old Dominican woman living in NYC. She had realized she was intersex well into adulthood and Katia was able to capture this moment of her cutting off all of her hair. Katia is also an insider. This woman is naked and vulnerable, but Katia is able to capture this experience on Rockaway Beach with her.

Both of these women are able to show the more intimate parts of their subjects lives through their photography as an insider.

For my photo essay I plan on attending the 2017 Peace Lanterns Festival taking place on Saturday, September 16 in Gantry Plaza State Park. The event is hosted by HarborLab and The Buddhist Council of New York to celebrate the UN International Day of Peace. It is an event for all cultures and religions to enjoy consisting of a day full of different activities such as meditation, yoga, painting, dance, kayaking, and of course creating and setting afloat the paper lanterns. The purpose of this event is to unite as a community and promote peace. There is no special access needed for this event as it is open to the public. I think this event focused unity and peace is much needed considering the all the violent events and general aggression occurring not only in our country, but around the world. I hope to express this using photographs of the different activities and all the different groups of people. Of course I will also capture the lit lanterns on the water at night. This event relies heavily on volunteers that I will interview, as well as speakers, to understand what the event means to them.