COMMUNITY
Noted Photographer Says Blacks Unfairly Portrayed by Media
J.' . ? . ' " ? ? ? * * ? ?
: A White House photographer recently visits Winston-Salem to promote "Soffgs of my People " exhibit
By VERONICA CLEMONS
Chronicle Staff Writer ? ?
You can find out a lot about
Sharon Farmer through a conversa
tion. She has a lot to say. But by
looking at some of the pictures she
has taken during her career as a
photographer, a person rs sure to
learn even more. ???-'
In any assignment she has ever
> had. Farmer said she has looked for
> African- American subjects. -
; "If they sent me to do weather,
I looked for black people dbing
something outside," she said.
She said African Americans
have not received a. fair shake when
it comes to media portrayal. The
majority of African-American
footage coming from television and
v newspaper photos, she said, shows
them lii a negative light. J ~
"They (the media) keep treating
us like the stepchildren we're not,"
she said. "We're under counted and!
not exalted like the people we are.
_ We're not crazyand w.c still, act
? decent.-- *
Farmer is one of the 50
African-American photographers
who traveled across the country to
help put together the landmark pro
ject "Songs of My People." The
project brings together an array of
black and white photos taken by
- African-American photographers
designed to tell the story of the
African-American experience
through the African-American per
spective. "Songs of My People" is
now on exhibit at the North Car
olina Museum of Art in Raleigh
until July 17.
Farmer said the project allowed
black photographers to come
together and see if they could do
things together. "This project ?ame
from 53 different hearts that met as
one," she said. All of the photogra
phers were given assignments, but
90 percent of the ones that made the
book did not come from those.
Farmer was in Winston-Salem
at the Delta Arts Center on June 25
for a community-sharing day spon
sored by the Delta Center, the N.C.
Museum of Art and the Society for ?
the Study of African-American His
tpry. . ' v ? '
Deborah *Reid-Murphy of the
Museum ot Art. said the museum is
working through communities to try
to involve more African Americans
in the arts and serve as many people
in the state as possible.
Farmer is responsible for one of
the most memorable photos in the
book, 97-year-old Beatrice Ferger
son demonstrating her hula-hoop
skills.
After being sent to California to
shoot things for the project, Farmer
found none of them made the book.
She was tipped off about Fergerson
and called her. Fergerson invited
Farmer over to see a video of her
. riding the bike, and doing the hula
hoop-. She then did a live demon
? stration for the camera.
"She proceeded to just go to
: town," Farmer said. "She's probably
the most energetic 97-year-old I
: have ever seen."
Since she was a young girl,
Farmer said she has always been
involved with the arts. At Ohio
State, she started out as a music
major. She played the bassoon. She
said she was a writer before she
became a photographer.
Farmer currently serves as a
White House photographer, travel
ing with President Clinton and his
wife on many of her assignments.
She said she feels real good about
working for Clinton.
"This guy is my boss and I like
it," she said. "They're wonderful
people and they recognize that
Americans need to be together like
no other administration, and 1 don't
see any Republicans talking about
harmony.
"The Clintons are Tike the
cousins you know around the
block," she added. "I don't think Bill
Clinton has seen a hand yet that he
won't shake."
Farmer dedicates all of her
work to showing that African
American culture is as diverse as
any other. Part of the problem with
blacks being misrepresented in the
media, she said, is because there is
not enough black representatives in
the media. According to Farmer.
African- Americans comprise 10
percent of the population but 10 per
cent of 'media personnel arc not
black. \ ,
force. When added lo other minority
representation the percentage rises
to 10.49 percent. The entire survey
concluded there was little growth in
minority and total newsroom
employment in 1993r
"Prejudice and sexism a/e still,
high." she said. J' And as a black
5 * ' ' * ^ ' % ' ? ' ?
"If they sent me to do weather, 1 looked for
black people doing something outside. "
"There are not 10 percent of us
anywhere," she said. The numbers
are even smaller when considering
upper management personnel, she
said. She added that white media
f . . v
executives are not-looking as hard
as they say they are for qualified
journalists.
An employment survey con
ducted by the National Society of
Newspaper Editors showed that
2,890 black j'uunialisis'-."5.3tt"pgr^
cent, represent the newsroom worlT
woman there are a lot of obstacles. "
e- Because of media coverage,
Rodney King did not get a fair trial,
she s;jid. and the same will be true
of O.J. Simpson, ?who has been
chuuual w ith murdering his kvwife
and her friend. A
He's (O.J.) has already beeh
tried^b) the media." she said. "The
media is the most unfair law.-?
A Way to rise above the social
and economic ills t h ar plague the
~ A frtc a n - A h Te r i c Ifri "community.
Fanner said, is to vote. People must
realize the power of the vote and
? realize how much power Congress
really has.
If everyone voted, they (gov
ernment) couldn't get away with the
stuff that they do."
? Voting, she said, woJld take
people like Sen. Jesse Helms, R
NC. out of office and put in place
candidates who really stand for
unity, like Harvey Gantt.
Farmer said she was in South
Africa to witness the installation of
Nelson Mandela as president in the
country's first democratic election.
She said she was in awe to see
blacks and whites together holding
up clinched fists singing the
national anthem. J
"It blew my mind.'' she said. "I
wouldn't be surprised if South
Africa set the example for how
blacks and whites can live together.
.Here, we still have not figured out
ftow to live together."
Sharon Farmer is the official photographer for Hillary Clinton.
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