TOWARD AN AESTHETICS OF CARE
A conversation from both sides of the lens
Was silence mistaken for consent?
Do people regret being photographed?
What could we be doing better?
Why did it take so long to ask these questions?
Why are they so often not asked at all?
Do we not want to know the answers?
We rarely return.
In journalism and media, we often move forward to the next assignment, the next deadline, the next story, without structurally building in ways to listen back. Too often, images are made and stories are told without returning to the people living them. Feedback rarely reaches the newsroom, the editing desk, or the photographer. Feedback that is foundational to centering both an ethics and aesthetics of care.
What follows is an attempt to listen: a collection of interviews with people who were photographed or interviewed by a journalist in the aftermath of a traumatic experience or hardship.
Co-created by
Sarah Blesener & Jennifer Jacklin Stratton
Graphic design by
Serena Gramaglia
Published in partnership with
Little Oak Press
Printed by
Everything Matters Press
How do we create aesthetic forms that remain accountable to the communities they emerge from? Is an aesthetic choice an ethical choice? How do you balance your aesthetic goals with the histories and priorities of the communities and individuals you work with? What is an aesthetics of care? Can an aesthetics of care be visually recognizable, or is it primarily embedded in process and intention? How do aesthetic decisions shape power dynamics between the artist and participants, and how might an aesthetics of care redistribute or soften that power? What does it mean to make aesthetic decisions that prioritize relationships and interdependency over artistic authorship or product? How can artists develop aesthetic forms that honor the lived experience of participants without turning those experiences into consumable images or objects? What might it look like for documentation, artwork, and social experience to all participate in an aesthetics of care without collapsing into each other?