Photography for Social Justice in Your Community

In this activity, you will:

• understand how photography can raise awareness about social justice issues by looking at a historical example
• identify social justice issues affecting your community
• create photographs that advocate for change
• reflect on the impact that photographs have on society’s understanding of a community issue

• Multipart Activity

• Camera, tablet, or smartphone with a camera
• Pencils
• Paper
• Social Justice Photograph Planner (Google Slides). Print, download, or type directly into the chart by making a copy.

Read About a Historical Example of Photography as a Tool for Social Change

George Rodriguez used photography to highlight important issues in his community. In his 1968 photograph Student Walkout, Boyle Heights, Rodriguez captured an image of students as they left class and walked out of their high school to protest unfair educational opportunities. By documenting this moment as it was happening, he showed the students’ powerful act of speaking up for change in the face of injustice. He also took several more photos of the East Los Angeles Walkouts, and together, these images tell a greater story of what was happening at the time.

In this activity, you’ll follow Rodriguez’s example by creating photographs that shine a light on a social justice issue in your own community. Before getting started with your photography project, find out more about Rodriguez’s work documenting the East LA Walkouts by watching the video, The Lens of Change.

Questions

Discuss or write your responses:

• How might an image like Student Walkout, Boyle Heights bring attention to a social justice issue?
• What issue in your community might you want a photographer like George Rodriguez to photograph?

Identify a Social Justice Issue in Your Community

Now it’s your turn. Start by thinking about issues in your community where there might be a problem or situation that involves equity or rights—especially when certain groups of people are treated unfairly or have fewer opportunities than others.

Some examples include:

• racial discrimination (unequal treatment or opportunities based on race)
• gender discrimination (unequal treatment or opportunities based on gender or gender identity and expression)
• economic injustice (large gaps in wealth and access to basic needs)
• education injustice (differences in school facilities or educational offerings)
• environmental injustice (uneven distribution of environmental hazards across different communities)

Brainstorm a few social justice issues in your community that you might like to address. Write down your ideas as you brainstorm.

Select an Issue to Address Through Photography

Think about the ideas you brainstormed. Some social justice issues are easy to see and capture in a photograph, while others are harder to show visually. For example, an issue like food insecurity—in which students come to school hungry—might not be something you could easily see or document. Look back at your list and consider which idea could be expressed through images. Choose one issue you would like to focus on for this activity.

Some examples of issues that could be shown through photography include:

• unjust access to or participation in school activities such as sports, student government, or different academic subjects
• disproportionate police presence or security measures in schools with higher populations of students of color
• unjust public school facilities, where schools in some neighborhoods have more resources and amenities than schools in others
• environmental degradation in publicly accessible natural areas like a park, beach, or forest

Plan Your Photographs

Consider the following details before you start taking pictures. Write down your responses to each of these questions using the Social Justice Photograph Planner (Google Slides). Print, download, or type directly into the chart by making a copy.

• What issue are you focusing on?
• What is the message you would like to convey?
• Where are some places you can go to take pictures of this issue?
• What are some possible subjects that will help to communicate or illustrate the issue?
• What kinds of symbols or details might the photograph include?
• Are there any ethical considerations to consider before taking pictures of this topic (e.g., privacy, consent, representation)?

As you plan your photos, remember that not everyone is comfortable being photographed. Think carefully about where you will take your pictures and how you can respect people’s privacy and dignity. Make sure your images are thoughtful and fair to the people involved.

You don’t have to be a professional photographer to take photographs that are meaningful and which will have an impact. George Rodriguez spoke of how he tried to capture moments without worrying about taking the perfect photograph, and that approach helped him to take many important images. Imagine Rodriguez documenting your issue today—what moments or details might he choose to capture?

Optional Activity

Watch short videos to get ideas about photography techniques you can use in your photographs.

• Composition: Frame your Focus and Rule of Thirds
• Candids
• Environmental Portraits
• High Level Perspective

Take Pictures!

You’ve put lots of thought and planning into making your photographs. Now it’s time to take your pictures! Go to the place(s) you planned and take 5–15 photographs. You don’t have to plan all your shots in advance. Try to take pictures of things that catch your eye or seem like they tell a story about the issue you want to address. Try using different perspectives and compositions. And, try to be purposeful about the photos you take—rather than taking dozens of photographs without thinking about the subject and composition, try to focus on taking just a handful that are intentional.

Curate and Share Your Photos

Review your photographs and select 2–4 images that tell a story about the social justice issue you wanted to document. Sometimes you can’t tell a story with just one image, and it takes a few.

Consider the following questions as you review and select among your photos:

• Does this image show the issue through some kind of evidence? What is the evidence in this image?
• What story does the image tell? How might this story be different from other narratives that are commonly told or understood by the public?

Optional: Edit your select photograph(s) using cropping, light adjustment, and other imaging editing tools.

Once you’ve selected your preferred images, make slides using each photo to tell a bigger story.

• On the first slide, include an artist statement that summarizes your intention. It should name the issue that it addresses, what the images show, and what you want viewers to understand.
• On the following slide(s), include 1–2 sentences per photo that explain what the photo is showing or what story it tells. You can choose to put each image on its own slide, or show them side by side—whichever works better to tell your story.
• On the last slide, include your ideas about actionable steps that might be taken to address the issue you photographed.

Reflect on Your Project

Discuss or write your answers to the following questions:

• How is your issue similar to or different from the issues in the East LA Walkouts?
• What did you learn from documenting the issue using photography? Did you see anything that surprised you or was different from what you expected?
• How do you think photographs help to shine a light on an issue like the one you selected?
• Would you use photography again to speak out? Why or why not?

A cultural and political identity that emerged from the Mexican American civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Some Mexican Americans use this term to describe themselves, but not all.

A network or group of people, sometimes living in a particular place, who share interests, values, characteristics, responsibilities, or physical spaces.

Actions stemming from conscious or unconscious prejudice, which favor and empower one group over others based on differences of race, gender, economic class, sexual orientation, physical ability, religion, language, age, national identity, and other categories.

In different contexts, “justice” refers to both moral correctness and fairness, and also the rule of law. By contrast, “injustice” usually describes unfairness.