"I'm interested in raising questions, basically, how to look at the Other" -- Viviane Sassen as quoted in About Face, an article featuring her work as a photographer in last month's New York Times
When I was 9 I asked my Mom why there weren't any black bandaids. It was 1980. We were in the car and she didn't have an answer for me. "That's just the way it is," she said.
Hmmm, I thought. That hardly seemed fair.
Someone else thought it wasn't, either. I open up the NYT and am immediately transported to my 9 year old self.
There's something about being different that helps you recognize the Other. For Ms. Sassen, it was life in Africa. Me? Growing up in conservative South during height of Reaganomics. And learning you're gay.
Trust me, they don't teach that at cotillion.
Hmmm, I thought. That hardly seemed fair.
Someone else thought it wasn't, either. I open up the NYT and am immediately transported to my 9 year old self.
There's something about being different that helps you recognize the Other. For Ms. Sassen, it was life in Africa. Me? Growing up in conservative South during height of Reaganomics. And learning you're gay.
Trust me, they don't teach that at cotillion.
David, a businessman whom Sassen met in Dakur. Viviane Sassen/Stevenson Gallery
...She points to an image she shot of a friend, Dakar businessman named David. Earlier, she'd seen another local businessman with a typical tan-colored Band-Aid on his dark skin. She says she finds it odd that Band-Aids for non-white people are rare: "Even if you're a well educated, fortunate African you still have to wear a light Band-Aid."
--Dutch artist Viviane Sassen, New York Times
Do you see the Other? To read the article and view her thought provoking work in it's entirety click here.
--Dutch artist Viviane Sassen, New York Times
Do you see the Other? To read the article and view her thought provoking work in it's entirety click here.
