Natalie Kuplen
HI 4062
Dr. Sylvie Kandé

11 December 2020

The Rising: A Photography Exhibition

Fiona Lee was born in Georgetown, Guyana, and moved to the United States with her mom when she was nine years old. She always had an interest in the arts but didn’t get passionate about photography until she took a class in her sophomore year of college. She went on to graduate and get her degree and now attends SUNY Old Westbury and is enrolled in the Visual Arts program. Her exhibition, ​The Rising, i​ s a collection of images that were taken at a Black Lives Matter protest in NYC and Long Island. Lee experienced this historical event first hand, as well as documented it through her photography. The goal of her work was “to showcase the uninhibited truth of the global #BLM protests triggered by the murder of George Floyd, with a focus on the NY protests. With this exhibition, Lee seeks to connect art and reality by challenging our senses, our emotions, and our perspectives” (prunderground.com). She felt her work showed what the media failed to show, which is what the movement is actually about.

The images in the exhibit are very moving. Anyone who views them can tell that the images were taken to bring awareness to society’s issues and spark change. For example, the photo titled “In the Line of Duty,” shows a line of policemen who are heavily armed standing in front of a line of protestors who are only armed with signs in their hands. Meanwhile, they are behind a barricade while the cops are not. The people are not armed and yet they are still seen as a threat. The thesis of the exhibit is that although atrocities such as slavery and segregation are no longer legal, people of color are still deeply affected by systemic racism in America. While it may not be as overt as segregation laws or slavery, it still exists and is so embedded in American society that most of the time it goes unnoticed by people who are not directly affected by it. For example, police brutality. Many people of color are affected by police brutality every day but police brutality is one issue that is part of the bigger issue of systemic racism. One image in the exhibit portrays a woman holding a sign that says “It’s not about one bad cop, it’s about systemic racism.” The images in the exhibit represent only a fraction of the struggles that people of color face in their everyday lives due to the embedded racism that still lives in this country.

There were many important images in Fiona Lee’s exhibition that clearly indicate the message that she is trying to spread. One image that stood out, in particular, was “Can We?” This photograph shows a woman holding a sign with a list of names of people who unjustly lost their lives at the hands of the police. The biggest name at the top of the poster is “George Floyd.” Police brutality has always been an issue that needed addressing and fixing but it wasn’t until George Floyd’s death that we saw the biggest outbreak of protests since the Civil Rights Movement. Some other names on the poster include Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin. At the bottom of the poster, it says “AND HOW MANY MORE?????” This image is important because it shows how many lives were unlawfully taken by the police and asks the question of how many more lives will be taken before something changes? The protests that took place, and that are currently still taking place, were meant to bring awareness to the problem of police brutality that people of color face every day of their lives, and this particular image depicts that. Another image that supports the idea that shows that racism still exists in America today through things such as police brutality is “The Summoned Mother.” This photo shows a crying woman holding a picture of George Floyd. She has her fist in the air and is wearing a mask that says “Please I can’t breathe.” Which are the words that George Floyd repeatedly said as he begged for his life while being detained by police officers. To her left, there is a man wearing a shirt that has the Dunkin’ Donuts logo and says “America Runs on Racism.” A twist to Dunkin’s popular slogan, “America Runs on Dunkin’.” This image is important because it shows how people are emotionally affected. A lot of the images portray anger, and rightfully so people should be angry. But this image focuses on the sadness and the fear that people of color face in their everyday lives.

The Rising contributes to narrating/making history in many ways. These photos are primary sources from a movement that future generations will learn about in history classes. They capture not only the actual event itself but the emotions that people felt at that moment as well. These pictures tell a story. Events like the one portrayed in the exhibit are what shape our society into what it is. Without protests, it would be very hard to bring about change. Not only is it important to document the things that bring about change through photographs but it also puts a face to all the stories being told and all the struggles being discussed. “There has been a tendency for history only to focus on major political figures, while ignoring other groups. It is pivotal to have understanding of the people who lived in a particular time period and how they molded the society. Photography allows historical events to seem more real, rather than merely stories” (https://worldhistoryarchive.wordpress.com/). When we learn about historical events, especially tragic ones, we tend to forget that real people are attached to these events. Real people suffered through them. Photographs remind the viewers that these are real people with real struggles. One of Lee’s photographs, “The Summoned Mother,” portrays a mom with her closed fist in the air and tears soaking her cheeks. Viewers of the photograph and observers of this historical event can see how people living through this time felt and gain insight into their experience with racism today and police brutality. She and so many other African American mothers are constantly worried about sending their kids out into the world and wondering if they will come home. With others, such as “Hands Up Don’t Shoot,” you can tell just how frustrated people of color and their allies are with the current state of America. All of these photographs capture people’s emotions and tell a story. They allow the viewers to fully understand the significance of a historical event such as the Black Lives Matter movement. Photographs have been used all throughout history to tell stories, both the good and the bad. They’ve become an important part of how we teach history. They allow people such as students to connect to a time in which they weren’t present. “Using images to teach history and discussing this process with other teachers, I've noticed that visual media often seem more accessible to our students than the written record. Students themselves mention that images make the past seem more accessible, giving concrete shape to a world that sometimes seems intangible” (historians.org). It is also said that looking at images can also create a shared experience among the viewers in which they can now relate to each other. Photographs are a key component in making sure that people’s stories are not forgotten.

The beginning of the exhibition starts off with “Hands Up Don’t Shoot.” Protestors chanted this as they marched through the streets all over the United States. It refers to the countless times that an unarmed person of color was killed by a police officer when they weren’t resisting arrest. The exhibition starts off with a lot of photographs that are in black and white. A lot of these photographs show the groups of people and the diversity among these groups of protestors. Personally, I think the question is what’s it going to take for something to finally change? Also, how many more lives have to be lost in order for people to realize that there is a problem in this country? Throughout the exhibit, there is a clear theme. This theme being people vs. the police. There are countless images of people yelling at police and standing up against the police. However, there is a deeper meaning behind the images. The police represent everything that is wrong with the current state of America and the people represent the change that needs to occur. Two images that I feel perfectly encapsulate this are “In the Line of Duty” and “Deadlock.” Both images depict the fight for change.

As you get to the end of the exhibit, there are pictures that are in color. They are images of a cop car on fire. To me, this answers the question perfectly. In order for change to occur, it is going to have to get bad before it gets better. Unfortunately, not everyone sees everything so black and white and most people in America don’t see the problems with racism today. Most people think that racism ended when slavery ended, which is so clearly not the case. I also think that the images going from black and white to in color symbolize that this bleak time in American history is going to come to an end and this is going to be the spark that brought about real change for people of color.

Personally, I love Fiona Lee’s work. I think it portrays the feelings and emotions of the American people perfectly and is extremely captivating. Photography is a great way of not only documenting an event but also capturing the emotions of people at that particular time. There is a lot of sadness and anger in her photos which anyone could expect with being in a situation like the one that people of color find themselves in here in America. I think that the black and white photos add a lot more emotion. I also love how you can visibly see in the pictures that it is not just people of color fighting for change, it’s people with all different backgrounds and people of all different ages. For example, in the photo “Creating Signs,” there are three girls who are not people of color, sitting on stairs and making signs for the protest. These girls have not had the experience that people of color have had in America but can see clearly the problems so deeply rooted in our society that they are fighting to better other people’s lives. One photo that stuck out to me in particular is “Little Girl You Are Loved.” This photo stuck out to me because it is a little girl holding a sign that says “I am only 9 years old and I have experienced racism.” I think this photograph is extremely powerful and really shows the harsh reality behind everything that is wrong with America today. No one should ever have to experience what people of color experience in this country, let alone a child. I also think it shows how much the younger generation is really fighting for a better future. While this photo fills the viewer with sadness, it also fills the viewer with hope to see such a young person fighting for the things that they believe in. I don’t have a counter thesis and agree that the United States has a lot of unresolved issues embedded in our society that need to change.

In conclusion, Fiona Lee’s photographs are going to forever tell a story. Whether it be tomorrow or 60 years from now. Her photographs depict the struggles faced by people of color in the United States today. They give faces and emotion to people’s stories. Viewers of the photographs can without a doubt feel the pain that the people in the photographs do. The Black Lives Matter protest has already influenced America in so many ways and will continue to do so. The Rising i​ s just one example of how photography will be used to narrate history.

Bibliography

The Rising, Fiona Lee, 2020.

“Photography As Historical Documentation.” ​The World History Archive and Compendium​, 18 Dec. 2018, worldhistoryarchive.wordpress.com/2018/12/18/photography-as-historical-documentation/.

Pegler-Gordon, Anna. “Seeing Images in History: Perspectives on History: AHA.” ​Seeing Images in History | Perspectives on History | AHA,​ 2006, www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/february-2006/see ing-images-in-history.