Feyisola Oduyebo, 17, gets her make-up done by her friends while getting ready for her senior prom in Brooklyn, New York

Feyisola Oduyebo, 17, gets her make-up done by her friends while getting ready for her senior prom in Brooklyn, New York

The best visual journalism displays the human condition as honestly and thoroughly as possible. The photographers highlighted in these pages give us more than overly simplistic depictions of violence, devastation, and criminality too often attached to minority populations the world over. From the images of Muslim women in Michigan and male church members in Arkansas praying to high school band members warming up before a football game and the playful exuberance of skateboarders on Atlanta city streets, these photographs depict lives much larger than the snapshots of war and disaster we see most often associated with black and brown people. This work reaches toward that goal of depicting holistic lives, evading stereotypes, and gesturing toward the possibility of shared humanity.  

                                                          —Tara Pixley

Dustin Chambers

A group of young men skate on the steps of the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building in Atlanta, Georgia

A group of young men skate on the steps of the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building in Atlanta, Georgia

A man named J.R. checks the fit of his bee-keeping suit. J.R. takes care of bees and a community garden in Atlanta, Georgia

A man named J.R. checks the fit of his bee-keeping suit. J.R. takes care of bees and a community garden in Atlanta, Georgia

Brittany Greeson

Ms. Ann at the Shake Rag salon in Bowling Green, Kentucky

Ms. Ann at the Shake Rag salon in Bowling Green, Kentucky

Friends dance at a school prom in Flint, Michigan

Friends dance at a school prom in Flint, Michigan

Mark Lumpkins rests at the Shaw Skate Park in Washington, D.C.

Mark Lumpkins rests at the Shaw Skate Park in Washington, D.C.

Congregation members pray at Michigan’s Az-Zahra Islamic Center

Congregation members pray at Michigan’s Az-Zahra Islamic Center

Zun Lee

Terence Mason in his old Ferguson, Missouri neighborhood in December 2014

Terence Mason in his old Ferguson, Missouri neighborhood in December 2014

More from Zun Lee: “Capturing Quiet Acts of Resistance: Documenting the lives of black fathers in America, from Brooklyn to Ferguson,” from the Summer 2015 issue of Nieman Reports

Cassandra Giraldo

In the town of Ollantaytambo in Peru’s Sacred Valley, residents dress in traditional Andean garb in honor of a carnival in February

In the town of Ollantaytambo in Peru’s Sacred Valley, residents dress in traditional Andean garb in honor of a carnival in February

A detail of Arielle, 14, and her septum piercing as she hangs out with her friends after school in Brooklyn, New York

A detail of Arielle, 14, and her septum piercing as she hangs out with her friends after school in Brooklyn, New York

Aaron Turner

West Memphis (Ark.) Sr. High School Band members warm up before a Friday night football game

West Memphis (Ark.) Sr. High School Band members warm up before a Friday night football game

Male members at a Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Turrell, Arkansas join hands in prayer

Male members at a Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Turrell, Arkansas join hands in prayer

Further Reading

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