Tributary
Missouri was one of four Border States that never seceded from the Union, radically dividing the State since the late 1860s. From the legal restrictions put in place to deny people of color the right to rent or own property in the 1940’s, to the failure of the Pruitt-Igoe housing projects in the 1970’s, St. Louis’ past is littered with racial discrimination. These are just two examples of many occurrences foreshadowing the racially charged riots in Ferguson in 2014.
As a St. Louis native I’ve noticed this history is kept quiet. Most white St. Louisans live outside of the metropolitan area and possess an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. However, as a local and a person who grew up in St. Louis County, the signs of institutionalized racism were prevalent. I witnessed the police conducting unnecessary searches of friends and was even asked, “What are you doing with them?” while riding in cars with people of color. Fearing the police is normal in St. Louis, even as a white woman.
The media’s portrayal of Ferguson and of people of color in the United States over the past year has been predominantly negative. My own community and the country at large are denying its history while simultaneously shaming the individuals affected by it. I felt the need as a documentarian to investigate a place that was in close physical proximity to me, but one that I had been cautioned to never experience.
Tributary, is a body of work about social injustice in St. Louis, Missouri and the events that have contributed to it. The photographs are my attempt to document The Movement in St. Louis and the individuals in opposition of civil rights. I aim to explore similarities and differences between humans living in a city divided by racial and social inequality.
written Fall 2015