Deb Willis, Jess Ingram Talk @NYPH

Bodies In Question: Deborah Willis & Jessica Ingram
Lecture
Friday, May 14
6:30 - 7:15pm
Get more information at: www.nyphotofestival.com.

Please re-visit our conversation with Jess, by clicking here.

MLK Day

Medgar Evans' Backyard, Jackson Mississppi, 2005 © Jess Ingram

Today is Martin Luther Kin, Jr. Day in the US and we thought it would be a good occasion to re-visit our conversation with Jessica Ingram. You can do so by clicking here.

Jessica Ingram @ PDN

© Jess Ingram

Head over to PDN to see Orion's Jason Houston portfolio review of Jessica Ingram's "A Civil Rights Memorial".
And please re-visit our conversation with Jess, by clicking here.

Shell, Ingram: Obama

If you missed the opening for the Deborah Willis/ Jeanne Moutoussamy- Ashe curated show Obama: A Historic Campaign in Photographs at Leica Gallery in New York below are two snapshots from the reception.



images by Jessica Ingram & Callie Shell

The show and book features work by photographer Jessica Ingram (who we had the recent pleasure of interviewing for the Conversations series) and Callie Shell, who followed Senator Obama on the campaign trail for 18 months. The Guardian has an excellent article about Callie Shell by Rhoda Buchanan from June 26, 2008 , that you can find here.

1968; Then & Now - Opening Reception Tomorrow

Entitled, 1968: Then and Now, this multimedia exhibition explores an era when a multitude of social movements climaxed in discontent with political order, particularly of the United States, that was rooted in domestic racial inequality and imperialist foreign policy. It also reflects on the presence of the memory of this time in our hearts and minds for 40 years. In 2008, our world is saturated with iconic images that reflect upon and draw from 1968. This exhibition combines historical and contemporary images that construct diverse stories about the culture of resistance, beauty, power, and the notion of disenfranchisement.

Artists, photographers and writers in the exhibition include: Emma Amos, Tomie Arai, Derrick Addams, William Cordova, Bruce Davidson, Thulani Davis, Tom Drysdale, Ellen Eisenman, Jessica Ingram, Lorie Novak, Norman Parish, Jolene Rickard, Stephen Shames, Margo Machida, Elaine Mayes, Iris Morales, Paul Owen, Jamel Shabazz, Hong-An Truong, Hank Willis Thomas, Fran Wilson, and more.

Curated by Deborah Willis

PLEASE RSVP @ 646-485-1284

A companion exhibit will be on display at Tisch School of the Arts from Sept 2- Nov 20, 2008
Opening Sept 26 6-8
Gulf + Western Gallery

Plenary Symposium
Monday Oct 20 7-9
@ Tisch School of the Arts
Cooper Union Great Hall

Date:	Thursday, September 25, 2008
Time:	6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location:	The Nathan Cummings Foundation
Street:	475 Tenth Avenue - 14th Floor
City/Town:	New York, NY

A Conversation with Jessica Ingram

In the past many photographers worked abroad. Jessica Ingram is part of a new generation of artists that work at home and who again tell American stories. Her work is deeply motivated by her interest in people.



GrandmaRose & Untitled from the series Hilltop High © Jess Ingram


NP: Tell us a little about yourself.

JI: I was born in Nashville, Tennessee and raised between Nashville and Knoxville. I received degrees in Photography and Political Science from NYU, and my MFA from California College of Arts and Crafts. I now live in New York, but spend much of the year in the Southeastern United States, making work and spending time with my family.

Dinner, Mamma's Glo © Jess Ingram

NP: How did you discover photography and what inspires you?

JI:I can't remember when I first started photographing, but I was young. My mom got me a Kodak 110 camera, and I was constantly taking photographs of my family, where I lived, places I visited. I remember thinking of photography as a way to remember things that were important to me, whether that was my sister, my dog, or my 6th grade trip to Washington, D.C., for example. I am a people person, and inspired by peoples' stories. I do not remember who wrote it, but I once read "Who will tell the lives of ordinary people," and it has always stuck with me. I am interested in stories, choices people make, and a person's or a community's day to day life.

NP: You earned degrees in photography and political science. Where does your interest in social science stem from?

JI: Specifically, I don't know. Both of my parents were social workers and my father became a journalist. I was encouraged to be part of community. Through these influences, and through teaching, I am interested in using photography to answer questions and get to know and understand people, whether it's people in my family, or strangers. I'm also interested in history, and thinking about the stories and history in landscapes, most recently, in the American South.

Atop Stone Mountain & Medgar Evans' Backyard, Jackson Mississppi, 2005 © Jess Ingram

NP: You were born in the South and continue to spend time there with family. Your series “A Civil Rights Memorial” confronts the history of South. What has the reception been of this project, particularly in the South?

JI: Overall, the reception has been wonderful. I am learning more and more about the history every time I talk to people. There's always another site and another story. I want there to be conversation about the sites, or people's experiences during the Civil Rights Movement to present day. The interactions with people have been one of the most interesting, exciting, and difficult parts of this project. At times, people have been angry, or have not wanted to talk to me, or have me photograph. I have always tried to have conversation with them, and in most cases, they were frustrated by the media's representation of the American South, especially during the Civil Rights Movement. For the most part, once I explain why I am interested, they are extremely helpful about directing me to the specific places I am looking for. It's a sensitive issue. Many feel defensive, many feel exploited, and almost all feel that there is still a lot of work to be done in communities around issues of race and class, and how they are manifested in daily life, through housing, education, jobs, etc.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has been amazing to repeatedly welcome me to their offices in Montgomery and grant access to their resources there. Their hospitality has been invaluable to this project.

Untitled from the series Hilltop High © Jess Ingram

NP: Where can we see the video interviews you conducted for Hilltop High?

JI: The video interviews are in process. Raised as a photographer, my video skills are coming along. It is a very different way of working as well, which is exciting, but taking me a minute to get comfortable with. I work on all of my projects for a very long time, probably too long. I keep learning new things about people or places I'm photographing, and as long as the material is developing and engaging, I keep working. It's important to me to feel that I know what story I'm telling before I put it out to the public.

Love is the Greatest © Jess Ingram

NP: What’s next?

JI: The idea of next is exciting. Next involves wrapping up Hilltop High and A Civil Rights Memorial. I feel that both projects are meant to be books, so I am working on book dummies now. (Though I just discovered some more Civil Rights sites through research, which I want to visit and hopefully add to the project...) I have some new ideas that are primarily based in East Tennessee and other parts of the South, and have started shooting there. I keep a book of ideas, and I keep going.

NP: Thank you so much!

To See more of Jessica's work visit her website www.jessingram.com and also take a look at the site of ©ause Collective -- www.causecollective.com -- a collaboration between different artists that Jessica is a contributing to.

This Land was Made for You and Me

Issue 13 of Spanish magazine OjodePez just came out. Included in this issue is Jessica Ingram's Hilltop High project and Colby Katz' Rabbit Hunting project.