The PDN White Album
I had a curious comment left on a week-old blog post about PDN’s photo annual winners. Stan Banos pointed out that those winners were “Picked by a 24 member all white jury…” A few days later, he left a second comment pointing me toward a post over at duckrabbit, largely siting Banos’ own blog, Reciprocity Failure, where he writes:
A year or so ago, I sent a “Letter to the Editor” of PDN (which they published) observing how little things had changed in the 35 years I have been involved in photography. More specifically, it was commenting on their “Major Movers and Shakers of Photography” issue- in which the major curators, editors, gallery owners, and publishers featured were all (with the possible exception of one Asian female)… white. OK, OK, one can’t possibly pin PDN with the blame for lack of minority representation in the upper echelon of the photographic universe. Agreed.
Then I get my hands on the PDN May 2009 Photo Annual and check out their 24 (not a half dozen, or ten, or a baker’s dozen at that- but 24!) judges, each and every one- white, white and white! I know it can’t possibly be something as absurdly ridiculous as the now trite mantra of- “I just don’t see race.” It’s what year, what century, what presidency? Just how is it that to this day, people of color are still not represented anywhere near proportionately in these creative command positions?
…the other reasons for such obvious exclusion are even more nefarious and depressing, ranging from out an out indifference to blatant passive racism. Regardless, I still don’t know what possible, plausible excuse could exist for an all white jury from a publication of such influence.
And Duckrabbit is responding to PDN’s contest with a competition of their own. They’re offering $1000 to the first person, anyone, who can come to PDN’s defense and answer his question as to “what possible, plausible excuse could exist for an all white jury from a publication of such influence?”
So what do you make of all this?
June 8th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Ironically PDN’s own November 2000 issue featured an excellent article by Jimmie Briggs, “Whiteout: How the Media Ignores the Perspectives of Minority Photographers.” Passive racism, although Briggs doesn’t use that phrase, meant that minority photographers–Asian, Latino/a, and black– were often overlooked and that the concerns of minority community were often ignored. Briggs and the minority photographers that he interviewed said that the problem stemmed from the lack of people of color in decision-making positions, the lack of mentoring for minority photographers, etc.
Great article, but little has changed at the magazine that published it.
Another irony… PDN’s blog, PDNPulse posted last week on “Documentary Photography’s Diversity Problem,” which addressed the difficulty that photographers of color have in getting their work noticed and published.
June 20th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
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