Michael Reichmann Project Grant 2019 Recipients!
We are so excited to announce the very first recipients of our new Michael Reichmann Project Grant! Kristen Emack, Casey Jackson, and Annie Tritt have been selected from the 2019 Critical Mass Top 200 Finalists to each receive a $1000 cash award to go towards the development of a new or current project. Though this won’t always be the case, this year we decided to award photographers who are working to raise awareness and visibility to different social issues through their photographs. Congratulations, photographers – we cannot wait to see how this award helps advance the work you are passionate about!
Read about their projects below and visit their websites to learn more about their incredible work!
KRISTEN EMACK
Kristen’s series “Cousins” is a tender documentation of her daughter, Appaloosa, and her cousins as they navigate childhood. While it is not uncommon for mothers to photograph their children, Kristen’s perspective is unique because as her subjects have matured, they have begun to understand that Black girls lives are not well documented or represented. “My hope is that when they look back on this work, they will see the beauty of their childhood together, and when they look for everyday representations of themselves in the world, they will find themselves here, in this work we made together, reflected with love.”
CASEY JACKSON
In his series “Zarek: A Family’s Journey”, Casey is compelled to share every aspect of life his family faces raising his younger brother, Zarek. Zarek has been diagnosed with Autism, Epilepsy, and Cerebral Palsy and has struggled with normal daily activities his whole life. His parents bare the brunt of Zarek’s special needs, but with the strength and fierce love of a parent. What began as a way for him to escape the scary and emotional things he was witnessing but did not understand, Casey turned this series into a loving documentation of the beautiful moments of human compassion and unconditional love a parent or family member can harbor within in them. “My goal with this project is to give everyday people a glimpse into the world of raising a child with special needs but also inspire those who are going through it.”
ANNIE TRITT
“Transcending Self” is a portrait and interview series documenting transgender and non-binary youth aged 3-20 in the United State and Europe. Annie focuses on bringing the viewer into the heart of their experience, enabling a connection with the underlying humanity of each participant – instead of reducing the person to their physicality. The portraits and accompanying interviews focus on each subject as a whole person, unique beyond their gender identity. Through working on this series, Annie came to terms that they themselves are transgender/non-binary. “As much as I’m an advocate for the trans community, I had internalized transphobia and struggled to accept myself as transgender/non-binary. Recognizing this reaffirmed to me the importance of this work. In recent months, the project has inspired me to begin a series documenting my own life with surgery and hormones.”
This award is made possible by a generous endowment gifted to Photolucida by the Luminous Endowment for Photographers – an organization created by the late Michael Reichmann in 2007 to foster current and anticipated photography projects. Photolucida is excited to continue Michael’s legacy by providing this opportunity to emerging photographers.
