Photography can be seen as a purely artistic form of expression, or it can also serve to educate and empower people to reflect and act. I have sought to accomplish the latter as a matter of principle. I have learned to combine photographic skill with knowledge of history and culture and to disseminate significant images to a wide community.
The nature of my work is enhancing the sense of international community through the medium of photography. My specialization has been portraits of the global family of people of African descent. I seek to engage viewers in a face-to-face encounter with individuals whose cities, towns and villages I have had the privilege of visiting. In a world still struggling to create true racial and ethnic harmony, I believe that these photographic images contribute to the spirit of justice, peace and friendship.
For more than a quarter century, I have considered my vocation as a photographer to complement my work as an activist, educator and broadcast journalist. I have used my photographs creatively as educational tools - as picture stories, not just pictures. I have confidence that each image, worthy of exhibiting, symbolically speaks to and communicates with its viewers.
I endeavor to capture the sensitivity, vibrancy and dignity of a people whom the average U.S. viewer is usually exposed to in stereotypical ways, either as the subject of documentaries, as supporting cast in safari films, or in appeals for humanitarian assistance. My commitment is to project an image that both subject and viewer can trust to be a true and unaltered likeness; thus, I refrain from the use of technical enhancements. Instead I find the purest and most profoundly aesthetic portrayals -- from innocence to boldness -- to be reflected in the simplest and most subtle detail of a subject's expression, gaze, tilt, movement.
Approaching a stranger and sometimes unable to speak the local language, I face a human relations challenge. With only seconds to work, I must earn the subject's acceptance of an invitation to become a collaborative partner with my camera and me. I feel most rewarded when the portrait conveys a rapport and absence of self-consciousness as though the subject and I were acquaintances. Ultimately, these affective qualities are critical in communicating emotion to the viewers. Composition is also significant, since frequently, the surroundings, attire or personal property offer the viewer important clues as to the context and circumstances of the subject.
One of my objectives has been to photograph subjects with such arresting qualities as to cause viewers to find them compelling. Those who have expressed appreciation for my photographs have often said that I have a talent for connecting with my subjects. My ability to engage a subject and to place her or him at ease, demonstrates intuitive as well as camera skill. I have learned that in order to gain a person's respect and trust, the photographer must approach and engage them in a sincere and valuing kind of way.
Viewers of some of my portraits have been moved or captivated by the central focus of the eyes of the subjects. In other photos I have captured subjects making their own artistic statements. As a socially conscious photographer I have understood and accepted completely my responsibility to show that people in the most humble circumstances possess dignity.
Many of my photos are of Black women and girls. I enjoy opportunities to visually acknowledge and celebrate them, for all that they have contributed to the liberation and development of African people in particular, and the progress of humankind in general. I am also concerned that Black females lack dignified visibility, and continue to be grossly underrepresented in society's power and income distribution arrangements.
From my perspective it is an unacceptable paradox that the African woman is the "Mother of Humanity", yet in every continent she is all too often relegated to subordinate or inferior positions. This poses a dilemma for both the African and international community, that I want male and female viewers alike to be moved to ponder. I believe that the more men and boys see and are encouraged to reflect upon women as leaders, sages, mothers, providers and warriors --- the more inclined males will become to embrace women as equals. Another aim of this exhibit is to suggest that during earlier times women provided Africa with some of its ablest rulers, and today women constitute more than half of the Pan African world.
My subjects hail from North, East, West, Central and Southern Africa; Mexico; Central America; the Caribbean; Canada and the United States. My aim is to make an inter-regional, inter-generational and unifying statement. Although African people are presented in their global diversity, there is an over-arching oneness and sameness about them collectively.
I have confidence that the AfroMexican portraits at the center of this exhibit, will encourage more than a few viewers to reflect upon the decisive role of Africans in the anti-colonial struggles that convulsed this hemisphere. Chicano/Latino and Black patrons in particular, may be moved to build upon the longstanding and interdependent relationship between enslaved African and conquered Indigenous populations, as a foundation for future solidarity and empowerment. Similarly, I hope that the promise in Africa's most minerally-rich and strategic nation, the Democratic Republic of Congo, as evidenced in images of its late president and exuberant participants at the 37th Independence Anniversary celebration, are conveyed to all who witness these works.
These photographs are an extension and reflection of an African Internationalist world view. My aim is to challenge, inspire, strengthen and educate. The activist-photographer who places politics in command, utilizes photography as a rich language medium to advance the global collective interests of his or her race and class. He or she fills duty-bound to capture on film the social reality of the times, particularly as it affects a given community.
I thank you.
Ron Wilkins - PoliticArt