Deb. New York, USA

Photographer, curator, and professor -Tisch School of the Arts, New York University

“As a photographer, it has been difficult to sit by and not photograph what Covid-19 has done, the havoc it has wreaked and the ways it has ravaged us, taken that which is most precious; however, as a writer and curator whose works explore how the female body—dressed and undressed—, experiences its spectrum of migrations constituted by and manifest in its storytellings,  it was has been a necessary time for me to look back at my images and written work that explore pain, loss and joy in the midst of commensurate adversity.  It has been 49 days! since I left my apartment, since the “shelter – in – place” plan was initiated.  In these days I have lost five dear friends to the coronavirus all artists and writers who reframed visual narratives about race and gender in the arts.  In these days I pick up my camera every night at 7pm to photograph from my balcony my neighbors making “noise”, sounding the alerts, reminding all of us to recognize and acknowledge the health care workers and other essential workers who are risking their own lives to protect and care for us against this unknown ‘reaper’.  I also think daily about my 98-year old mother, Ruth, and my 16 month old granddaughter, Zenzi, each and in different ways lead me to the women migrants, lead me to try to imagine their experiences at the borders around the world and wonder how they are protecting themselves and their families. I believe my photographs will memorialize this experience in a different way and help me reflect on the critical work that needs to be done to create community that is supportive and more compassionate.”