Peacemaker Interview
- What does visual peacemaking mean to you?
It’s a contribution toward unity in some part. Music and math are described as universal languages, and I can’t see why photography and the exhibition of humanity worldwide would be any different. Our job as cultural/travel/humanitarian photographers is to speak that language fluently enough for those living around us to pick up on each enunciation and verbal (in this case, visual) cue we provide. Continued, quality photography in this area, little by little, helps establish familiarity with those issues we all face individually and collectively. This is what visual peacemaking means to me.
- What motivates you to be a peacemaker?
The stories that everyone has. I’m an environmental portrait maker for the most part, and without the story that each individual inherently writes for and about themselves, I couldn’t function as a photographer. That being said, I firmly believe that these stories are what brings us together as humanity. We all be separated by different cultural characteristics, but many of us can relate to each other in the way we live out our lives. Storytelling is as old as time itself, and I’m interested in depicting those stories that unify us as human beings. It just so happens that some of those stories that unify us also tear us apart.
- Have you ever felt stereotyped?
This is a tough one. Surely everyone has been stereotyped at some point in time. I suppose it is whether or not that stereotype has stuck with me or meant enough for me to feel degraded because of it. I’ve been made to feel awkward about certain characteristics I have as a creative, but none that bar my work. Culturally, I’m lucky enough not to have been seriously stereotyped, but I have many colleagues that have and continually are based on where they are from, and this in itself is worth mention and encouragement toward an ousting of such behavior.
- How does your camera get you to reflect on your world and your life?
The camera is a very small frame of the reality it’s pointed toward, and it allows me to concentrate on THAT reality, no matter how small or secluded it becomes from the reality outside the frame. The camera affords me a way to highlight those aspects of my world that I want to interpret creatively and photographically, ending in some sort of exhibition. If everyone has their own story, then mine, similar to other photographers, would be through the lens.
- What do you like to photograph best?
Definitely environmental portraits. I’m a fan of photographing life activities, but I most enjoy being able to put the context of those activities a person might perform in portrait form in a real-world, on-location setting! Call this what you want, but it’s as much a storytelling way of photography as any, and one I would compare to full-on cultural photography when done right!
- What technical aspect of photography do you find most challenging?
I’m a lighter, and lighting is always a challenge, particularly on-location lighting! I teach photography at a U.S. university, and in my lighting classes, I always tell my students that photography is an evolutionary practice among those using it to communicate, and with this, the learning never stops.
- Is there a particular group you feel is misunderstood or stereotyped that you’d like to document common humanity amongst?
There are several groups worth mentioning, including worldwide agriculturists. Having somewhat of a background in agriculture, I’m fascinated by how much we are to neglect this group of individuals, or characterize them in stereotypical form. The differences among this group by country is astonishing, yet, the core principle behind what they do is exactly the same: sustainability.
There are other groups I would like to document, and I am in the planning stages of putting together stories and photographic essays on HIV-positive orphans in Haiti, as well as lesser-fortunate youth communication education in Assam, India. - Do you have an idea worth sharing?
Find the common ground we as human beings stand upon, and we’ll make much more advances toward our mission as visual peacemakers.
My Biography
Jerod Foster is a Texas-based magazine/editorial and travel photographer. His photographic efforts focus on environmental portraiture and natural history, where he is able to devote visual resources to telling individual stories through the photographic medium and multimedia concerted projects. His background growing up in rural ranch country partially inspires him to seek these stories out among his surrounding cultural environment.
Jerod is also a photography instructor at Texas Tech University, as well as a doctoral student in media sociology. His emphasis on visual and cultural storytelling has resulted in the formation of both professional and academic relationships worldwide.
In addition, Jerod is a partner in the publishing house, Badlands Design and Production, where he serves as editor and designer for specialized Americana coffee table photography books. Their latest titles include Inspiration, Texas Style, Working Dogs of Texas, and Under One Fence.
My Recent Activity
- I added: Throwing Hay
to Documentaries on July 27, 2010 - I added: Portraits of Stories
to Galleries on July 26, 2010
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