THE AMERICA ISSUE
Fall 2022
Published by the Social Documentary Network
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America Issue portfolios 1-9
What Has Been Will Be Again
Jared Ragland
From Indigenous genocide to slavery and secession, and from the fight for civil rights to the championing of MAGA ideology, the state of Alabama has stood at the nexus of American identity. Begun in fall 2020, the ongoing project, “What Has Been Will Be Again,” has led photographer Jared Ragland across historic colonial routes including the Old Federal Road and Hernando de Soto’s 1540 expedition to bear witness to and connect with individuals and communities plagued by generational poverty, environmental exploitation, and social injustices. View more images on SDN website.
US of A Color
Ghada Khunji
In my “America” series, an ongoing project, I attempt to portray a cross-section of a country filled with overwhelming pride yet tinged with sadness and confusion. To me, the people I photograph are almost lost in their own fairy tale. I try to capture my subjects’ beauty and spirit, as well as the simplicity of their surroundings. After all, I have deep respect for them, for it is my fairy tale too, one that I strived to be a part of growing up in the Middle East. It reflects the movies I watched and yearned to be a part of … it is MY America. View more images on SDN website.
Low 'n Slow: Cruising the Mission
Cheryl L. Guerrero
Since 2017, I have been documenting lowrider cruises in the Mission District of San Francisco, considered to be the center of the city’s Latino community. Throughout the Bay Area, lowrider cruises are an expression of pride, aesthetics, and Chicano culture. In many ways, cruises are not just about the car, but also about creativity, style, friendship, and family. Most importantly, they are about culture and community. Although not all lowriders are Chicano, the vibrant style and cultural expression are strongly linked to the Latino—and particularly the Chicano—community. This is especially relevant in the Mission District, where gentrification has contributed to the erosion of the historically Latino neighborhood and the displacement of its members. Audrey, who grew up in the Mission, explains that cruises are “our chance to take it back and to … show that we’re still here. Even if we can’t afford to live in the city that we were born and raised in, we’re still here.” View more images on the SDN website.
COVID-19 in Black America
Raymond W Holman Jr
In March 2020, I started working on a new personal project “Covid-19 in Black America.” From March until August 2020, I documented a group of Black doctors and nurses providing free Covid-19 tests in the Black communities of Philadelphia and surrounding areas. I am now creating environmental portraits of Black and brown-skinned people who have had first-hand experience with having Covid-19 and recovered, have lost family members who have died from the disease, have been mentally challenged by the year of being socially isolated, and finally Black and brown-skinned people who have figured out how to adjust to the challenge and made a new pathway. View more images on the SDN website.
We Are the People
Kevin McKeon
The broad stroke view documenting large crowds at Black Lives Matter protest marches is only a small representation of what occurred and, as such, a misrepresentation. We Are the People is not merely a “documentation” of the events, but seeks to tap into the deeply personal, very human side of what has transpired since the killing of George Floyd. Every movement is made up of thousands of individuals and individual moments. Marching with fellow protesters, I witnessed anger and frustration, but also moments of joy, love, community, heroism, and beauty. Black Lives Matter is the movement, but these are the people. View more images on the SDN website.
Abortion Rights: We're Not Backing Down
Lizzy Unger
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending 50 years of constitutional protection of the right to an abortion. Thousands of people gathered outside of the Supreme Court to protest the decision and the devastating consequences it will have. The anger and frustration were palpable. As an American woman, it felt meaningful to join the protests and capture the defiant energy of the crowd. The Bans Off Our Bodies protest was organized by a mix of local and national organizations. View more images on the SDN website.
This is What Democracy Looks Like
Jean Ross
The 2020 presidential election felt consequential to a degree unmatched by any other in my lifetime. As the election grew near, I set out to document the determination of my Brooklyn neighbors to exercise their right to vote. These images begin on the first day of early voting at the Brooklyn Museum, continue at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza on the day the election was finally called for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and at a January demonstration outside the Bay Ridge office of Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, who voted to overturn election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. View more images on the SDN website.
Lost: A Portrait of Addiction
Virginia Allyn
Addiction could be called a plague. It blights the land. It ravages lives. Flyers for the missing ask, “Have You Seen Me?” The toll it takes is devastating. lt is visible night and day. In Philadelphia, the poorest of our nation’s largest cities, the plague has worsened. It is more out of control now. Ten years ago, one man on Kensington Avenue remarked, “I would call this the suffering, the suffering. The only hope I see is that people get to Heaven when they die.” View more images on the SDN website.
Arming Teachers in America
Kate Way
This photo accompanies an essay that explores the highly controversial trend of K-12 schools arming teachers and other school staff in the United States. Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012—and the more recent school shootings in Parkland, FL and Uvalde, TX—well over a dozen states have begun arming teachers. Shockingly, no one official federal or state body has been keeping count of how many schools across the nation have armed staff, and in many communities, even the parents and the general public remained uninformed. Often without public knowledge, there are teachers, administrators, custodians, nurses, and bus drivers carrying guns in America’s schools. This photograph was taken at an Ohio gun-training program designed for school staff in a community divided over arming its teachers. View more images on the SDN website.
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