The Duckrabbit blog in response to a small internet outcry is sponsoring a contest of sorts. $1,000 to the person who can defend the fact that the PDN has selected this year an all white jury. The 24 member panel for the PDN Photo Annual 2009 seems nearly balanced when it comes to boys and girls, but many in the blogosphere are not pleased with the shades of white represented.
They were hoping to move higher in the zones and see a more broad racial representation. Stan Banos of the blog Reciprocity Failure used the term passive racism to describe the PDN’s failure to balance their jury.
The terms of Duckrabbit’s contest seem simple: restore a bit of Duckrabbit’s faith in the world, get 1,000 bucks.
PDN has not responded to the accusations of passive racism, so it is hard to say whether it is an oversight on their part, or something more sinister. It appears more to be a symptom of the culture. One comment on the “contest” post suggested that they use the money instead to promote a competition with actual cultural significance.
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14 Comments at "Racism in PDN contest? You decide."
Nice post.
You can read PDN’s late but admirable response here:
http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/06/on-lack-of-diversity-in-photography-and-in-pdn.html
I think it is MORE racist to assume that a non-white juror would vote any differently than a white juror. Aren’t those days over yet??
thanks for the link duckrabbit!
I would like to think this was simply an unfortunate oversight. And when it comes to the judging, as Jan says, I don’t see it making a difference one way or another. Races aren’t attached to the submitted images, so what’s to say the winners won’t all be of a certain race? Again, it is unfortunate, but I would like to believe it was not an intentional act of racism. I think as a culture, we tend to look for these acts sometimes. Would we react differently to an all black, or all latino panel? Who knows. I’m an eternal optimist, so I’m sticking to my belief that this was not intentional. Might I be wrong? Sure. But I’d rather be content in believing there was nothing foul intended than making assumptions of otherwise. I hope you are able to do the same! And in the end…may the best pictures win-regardless of color.
In 2009 should even this has to be a topic? Should it be a topic about genders either? I would think that it should be “the best people”, not race or gender. We should be evolved enough to not have to think about skin color, religion or gender. It’s sad it if it’s the case here.
I couldn’t agree more with Petra. Why is this even an issue? Does this assume that a someone’s sensibilities and appreciation for photography varies with skin colour? THAT would be the strangest part here.
Well PDN themselves have said it was a mistake. Photo judging is entirely subjective and if you can’t understand that people from different background will bring different perspectives and judgments to a photograph which will in turn give the competition depth, then you need to get out into the world more. I mean that really respectfully. It applies to me too.
I would have to agree with several people here that not only should this not be a topic by 2009, but it probably suggests racism to think a white juror would vote differently than another race juror. A couple weeks ago I flip on the news to see that some celebrity African-American couple is trying to gain exposure to promote the fact they only buy from other African-Americans and refuse to buy anything made by white people. They are sending the message that all Black people should only buy from Black people. Hum. Is the best way to right the wrongs of history to remake it backwards? I’ve always been a big fan of a box of crayons of all different colors. What person wants to color with just one color?
The only thing I get from this is that Duckrabbit is racist.
No, we really shouldn’t have to be talking about any of this in 2009. We really, really shouldn’t. And I wish we didn’t have to talk about disease, or poverty, or… But being adults I think we should all be honest and realistic enough to admit that all these things, including many nuanced and subtle forms of racism, still do exist to this very day. Again, do you really think PDN would have been so wantonly reckless to release the photos of a 24 member All Male Jury?
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Does the color of one’s skin automatically mean they were raised in a certain environment? What if an african-american child was adopted by white parents? You can’t tell what someone’s background is by the way they look, and to assume that brings us back to the original topic of racism.
I would like to see a variety of backgrounds in styles in judging such a contest. In this case, I see a good variety of backgrounds and styles; more racial diversity might bring more visual diversity, but not necessarily. Nor does this appear to be a “pattern of exclusion” by PDN – simply a coincidence of choices for this year’s judges – if there had never been any other races involved in PDN judging, then I would have a problem.
Let’s watch awhile before we call it anything; give it the patient consideration we would all hope for if the mirror were reversed.
It seems to me the term racist is being used inappropriately here. Racism is a belief that one race is superior to another. You can still believe that there are predominate cultural differences amongst races that would influence a persons subjective interpretation and NOT be a racist. What IF an African-American child was raised by a white parent? Are we to assume that child will not have any cultural experience based on the color of their skin that will impact the way they perceive things? I think not, and if you don’t believe me, ask the most famous one one Earth…Barak Obama. In 2009 there is still plenty of cultural separatism between races that inadvertently, and sometimes intentionally, leads to situations such as this one with the PDN. We still have to make an effort to be inclusive and representative. That’s not racism, that’s just right.
That’s funny, I never knew that a person’s race either qualified or disqualified them from determining whether or not they like any particular photograph.
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