I guess everybody has their tipping point. For me, oddly enough, it was a cover of People Magazine. It was mid-2014 - right after the University of California at Santa Barbara shooting - and I happened to glance at that weeks' issue of People. The cover story was about some Kardashian wedding and there was a little blurb in the upper right corner about the shooting... with a subhead saying 'How co
uld this happen - again?'. Now, setting aside the disproportionality in importance of these two stories, I was struck by both the naivety and borderline irresponsiblity of that subhead. 'How could it NOT happen again?' was my immediate reaction - why should we be surprised when - despite some small gains made in recent years by the gun violence prevention movement, there had yet to be anything remotely resembling a collective shift in our consciousness on the subject? I became increasingly frustrated by inaction - my own and the inaction of my country. I could no longer simply pay lip service to the importance of reducing the over 32,000 senseless and preventable deaths that take place every year. I could no longer just sign petitions or - worse - "Like" another page and convince myself that I was engaged. Most importantly, I could no longer scratch my head in amazement every time there was a national tragedy and wonder what it was going to take to change society for the better. And that's when I realized that it's going to take all of us. We can't afford to wait for someone else to step up and address this epidemic. We all need to get involved in whatever ways suit our skills, talents, and passions best. For me, this means meeting and photographing survivors of gun violence as well as the friends and family members of gun violence victims... and telling their diverse stories of trauma, grief, and strength. I want to show how the crisis extends far beyond the typical media narrative of urban violence to include domestic abuse, su***de, children being injured or killed by unsecured guns in their homes, and so many more tragic cases. By shining a light on these people, and allowing viewers to relate to them on a personal level and maybe even see their own families story in the stories of others, I hope to create a dialogue and action that will lead to meaningful change.
