New York, NY—In honor of its 75th anniversary, the Josephine Herrick Project (JHP), a nonprofit combining photography and social justice, established March 30th as Josephine Herrick Day. This year, the organization also hosted a photography contest to support photographers committed to exploring stories of social injustice.
The 2016 contest winner for her series titled “Sticks and Stone” is Donna Pinckley, who teaches photography at the University of Central Arkansas. Pinckley, who has received many awards, fellowships and honors over the years, hosted fourteen solo exhibitions from 1990 to 2008. Her photographs are currently in the collections of six art museums.
“The series began with an image of one of my frequent subjects and her African-American boyfriend. Her mother told me of the cruel taunts hurled at her daughter for dating a boy of another race,” Pinckley said. “As she was speaking I was reminded of another couple many years ago who had been the object of similar racial slurs. What struck me was the resilience of both couples in the face of derision, their refusal to let others define them. Two years ago I began photographing interracial couples of all ages, aiming as always to capture how they see themselves, the world of love and trust they have created despite adversity. I began adding the negative comments they have been subjected to at the bottom of the images.”
The contest was judged by JHP board vice president Miriam Leuchter, who is the editor of Popular Photography and American Photo magazines, and by renowned photographers Nina Berman and Deborah Willis.
The Josephine Herrick Project is committed to using photography to help level the field for the 31% of New Yorkers living in poverty and 11% living with disabilities. Twenty-six NYC communities annually participate in the photography programs, publications and exhibitions. Cameras are used as transformational tools that give a voice to all people and help them connect to the world through the visual language of photography.
The organization originally dates back to its namesake, Josephine Herrick. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Herrick left her portrait studio on 63rd Street and organized 35 photographers to set up photo booths at New York City canteens where young men going to war gathered. Like an early Facebook or Instagram, these photos were sent with a note to hometowns across the country in an effort to keep families connected. Herrick next organized volunteer photographers to teach programs to wounded soldiers in VA hospitals. This eventually spread to thirty states, and now includes children, youth and adults. jhproject.org
