FATHER where art thou
THE DEPLETION of A NATURAL RESOURCE
PHOTOGRAPHY
(Photo – meaning light, Graph – meaning to draw)
Today we are urged from all sides to Be Green. We are bombarded with unforgiving images of a dying planet. Our creative energy is re-channeled to preserve depleted natural energy. We redefine ourselves as citizens of mother earth, joined in a common struggle of salvation and renewal.
With this exhibit, I challenge the notion that we are traveling every avenue to restore the world’s energy. We re-write the wrongs to the environment, but we forget that people are a natural resource. We fail to save people as we save the planet.
In particular, I consider the Black Male. The BLACK MALE is one of the most eco-friendly, untapped energy resources on the planet. Powerful black men, in charge of their own destinies, are an endangered species. My images expose the stories of hard lives lived, of struggle, of turmoil…of the tragic depletion of this natural resource.
These images speak about boys and fathers. I explore the effect of growing up without the emotional, cultural, spiritual and economic stability of fathers. I investigate the effect that this absence has on the community and the world. The photographs illuminate a natural resource… American Made. They reveal the costs of potential wasted.
To be green, we harness the power of wind and the sun and the earth’s core.
It is not enough.
To be green—to be in harmony and in peace—we must re-establish the strength of the Black Male. This effort will yield an incredible amount of renewable energy.
These photographs embody my past, present, and future. Giving thanks, prayer and hope to a world where all natural resources reach their full potential.
Looking at these images think, wonder, imagine, see, and feel. Go GREEN.
~Bryant Johnson