By Douglas Carr Cunningham - Maria Rivers, owner-publisher of Charleston, South Carolina's Beau magazine, looked over coffee and said she wanted to publish a few of our photographs from the black and white exhibit "Charleston, One City, One Soul." I say, "our," because my photography partner, Iveta Butler, is also principal photographer for the project. In fact, she prompted us to do it, to show the commonality of Charleston people through film photography. Together, we wanted to express the connection between people, not separation. Maria presented our work in Beau, the LGBT-oriented publication. We are honored.
Only recently did I realize my mother is at the core of my motivation for Charleston: One City, One Soul. Would she be impressed, or would she say, “Keep my name out of it?” I don’t know. Mom is no longer here to tell me, but I am betting the latter. Honestly, maybe it was my parents doing - their fault. I have always felt a bit different and apart from others, from the earliest I can remember. Not so different, really, but I felt differen
Shouldn’t we realize America is a crazy place to grow up in? We classify. We label. We divide. We divide on race. We divide on religion, class, and sexual preference or orientation. As a teenager, I’d had enough of that. Now that I am 68, I see that though I’ve longed to be one with others, in commonality with others, I am still feel different, but I am not. Neither so much is anybody else. We should celebrate our unity as human beings, not divide ourselves with labels. We must assert indivduality without feelings of difference.
Such is the role of my photography. We photographers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and cultural backgrounds, yet we share our love for an endeavor and profession which fills our hearts with joy. Perhaps, I am a romantic, but I'll guess many of you are also romantics and renaissance followers. We share a bond. Most of us honor that bond.
As for me, I am the descendant of a white politician and his servant - one foot in power and one foot in slavery past. My mother was white, but grew up proudly black. My daughters are connected to the Philippines, Portugal and the founding of America. Many of us have a similar mix we may not know about.
We Americans should acknowledge our connections. We suffer from much secrecy, hate and difference. I believe with a forward-looking heart it is possible the real truth can heal and set us all free. We must embrace our Unity. Hopefully, we can be One People.
My friend and photo partner, Iveta Butler encouraged our collaboration for Charleston: One City, One Soul. She urged the use of heritage film photography to connect with the people, and to get their stories. With an outsider’s eye, Iveta shared with me her puzzlement that this great country, a land professing to be free, had so much division and strife within its people.
In Charleston: One City, One Soul people were disarmed and lovely, with their guards down. They gave us a small piece of themselves and showed their deep humanness. They are us. Maria Rivers could see that (check out Azalea Mag, also).