It was an honor to have two of my photographs selected to be part of The Art Center of the Bluegrass extraordinary exhibition, The Art of Being Black: Conversation & Experience from January 12 – April 18, 2021. The exhibition was a response to Black Lives Matter and demands for social justice. I had attended a March for Justice in Danville, Kentucky, on June 6, 2020, and documented our community responding to the demand for social justice and equality. These two photographs stood out as my strongest representations of our community response to the surfacing of racial turmoil in our country. Following the two photographs, is my exhibition artist statement.
Click here to see an archived version of the exhibition webpages.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Steve Hoffman, Danville, Kentucky
June 6, 2020: March for Justice, Danville, KY
While photographing the June 6, 2020 March for Justice, in Danville, Kentucky, I was overwhelmed by a synergy where people in my community, of different races, ethnicities and religions, came together and peacefully –yet urgently– protested the racial injustices experienced throughout today’s America. With an underlying united presence, there was an overlying cruciality and urgency to gather and march against overt and covert racism and in support of Black Lives Matter. Sharp bursts of impassioned shouting gave voice to brothers and sisters who could no longer speak. Slogans on signs and t-shirt demanded equity and equality, proclaiming hope, humanity and love; a sentiment that guides human beings all around our planet, regardless of how we look, who we love or to whom we pray. Even when we feel most powerless –overcome by dread and despair– when we join friends, neighbors and co-workers and gather for common decency and respect, our unified power reinforces our humanistic needs and can help make change.
I chose these two photos from the march to demonstrate the strength and resilience people have at a very human and personal level, even when we don’t hear the chants or see the fluid movement of the peaceful demonstration. The visuals from these images present loud, powerful and very real expressions of our human condition.
Tuggle Grass Photography 