Southside Photo Night Hosts Group Exhibition

Banner Image: Outside RESOURCE Minneapolis at Southside Photo Night. Image courtesy of South Side Photo Night.

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There’s a quotation by a famous documentary photographer, Dorathea Lange, that says “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to see, what it means to witness, and what our collective responsibility is to do both of those things, but also what the toll is. 

This weekend, I had the pleasure of Talking to Ben Hovland, one of the co-founders of Southside Photo Night. Hovland is a Minneapolis resident and photo journalist for MPR news. He and freelance photojournalist, Bridget Bennett, started hosting skill-share meet ups/ community nights for photo journalists called “Southside Photo Nights” at Resource in South Minneapolis in the Spring. 

Resource, a community event space located at 512 E 24th St, Minneapolis had put out an open call for recurring community workshops and events in the Spring. In the wake of the federal surge, Bennett and Hovland felt that community among those working on the front lines as photo journalists was lacking but absolutely essential and this open-call posed a great opportunity for building community, skill sharing, and ultimately healing together. 

 

Top Image: Inside RESOURCE at South Side Photo Night. Lower image: detail of show contributors. Image courtesy of South Side Photo Night.

The first three photo nights, photo journalists gathered and shared/ listened to each other's stories about their work and experience capturing the very-real human impact of the surge. One notable speaker included Elizabeth Flores, photo journalist for Minnesota Star Tribune whose connections to the latino community gave her access inside the homes of families in hiding, those having loved ones detained, and those making the difficult decisions to self-deport. The second photo night also included editors sharing their experiences of making the assignments for journalists and photo journalists. 

The fact is though, that those who worked on the frontlines capturing and witnessing the surge through the format of photography this winter was not limited to professionals. Thousands of people started coming out of their homes and understanding the power of the camera. Visual story telling has the unique ability to create records and accountability. Hovland told me he wanted to “pull back the curtain on the work of photo journalists” and keep the conversation going about collective responsibility we all hold to document and witness. And in doing so, he hopes he can build trust between the community and journalists. 

 

Top Image: Photo by Angie Banks, contributing artist for South Side Photo Night. Bottom Image: Photo by Steven Garcia, contributing artist for South Side Photo Night.

That’s how Hovland and Bennett ended up coming up with the idea of hosting a group photo show. The vision was for professionals and community members alike to share and view a visual, photographic record of the federal surge. In addition to creating a public record, Hovland told me it was also really important that this exhibition exist in physical space. Art has immense capability for fostering healing. By creating this type of third space, Hovland, Bennett, and Resource are opening the doors for a lot of community reflection and healing. 

It was really important for Hovland and Bennett to pass the mic from professionals to community members in this exhibition. The application process was simple and accessible and almost everyone who applied has at least one photo in the show. 

The final show consists of 50 images by 44 artists, all printed by Hovland himself and modestly hung unframed. The show is also accompanied by a host of programming. On Tuesday, August 25th from 5-8 PM, Southside Photo Night and Resource will be hosting a presentation by University of Minnesota Student Photo Journalists sharing about their work and experience capturing the surge last winter. On Friday evening, August 28th from 6-9 pm, all photographers from the exhibition have also been invited to speak on an impactful experience photographing the surge, or the story behind their photo they have in the exhibition. 

Those interested in supporting Southside photo night and their endeavors are encouraged to attend the programming or open gallery hours this week and to follow southside photo night on instagram @southsidephotonight. Viewers are also welcome to make donations to this self-funded endeavor.◼︎ 

Resource is located at 512 E 24th St, Minneapolis, MN 55404. Open Gallery hours for the exhibition are Sunday August 23 from 1-4 PM, Monday August 24th 5-8 PM, Tuesday August 25th 5-8 PM (With speaker from University of Minnesota), Thursday August 27th 5-8 PM, and Photo Night is Friday August 28th from 6-9 PM.