Local photographer explores power of photography during civil rights movement

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – A picture is worth a thousand words and a local photographer is using her platform to illustrate photography’s influence on the civil rights movement.

“I just wanted to talk about the impact that imagery has on all of us to change our minds to make us think differently, have different perceptions,” says Ann Dean, Lawrence-based photographer and member of the Humanities Kansas Speakers Bureau.

Friday’s presentation came as part of Humanities Kansas Big Idea series.

“The more things change the more they stay the same,” she says. “And you know, we’re we’re still not over the hump. We’re still fighting for the same things that we were, so we really wanted to just show that not only words can have meaning, but imagery can really have great meaning when we’re talking about these issues.”

I think it’s important to explore photography in the civil rights era because it reminds us of where we were, the intolerance, the segregation,” says Valerie Mendoza, historian and lecturer at Kansas City Kansas Community College. “And hopefully it shows us how far we’ve come.”

“In terms of photography, the civil rights era, it preserves an era [sic] with such brave people, brave and dedicated, who fought for change,” says Mendoza.

Dean used powerful historical photos to illustrate her message. You can find links and context for all of them HERE.

“It meant that the atrocities that were occurring on sometimes a daily basis in some cities in the United States could be seen by the rest of the country and the world and get a story out that perhaps wasn’t being told entirely, and allow people to make up their own ideas about what they thought of such behavior,” says Dean.

She points to the famous Whipped Peter photo and the impact it had on the public’s conscience.

“This man, with these beatings shown on his back– and I don’t I think from the very beginnings, people didn’t understand the behavior that went on along with the institution of slavery,” Dean says. “So the power was that it was able to open folks eyes to these are human beings not some commodity to be traded.”

“Sometimes when you read a story, you can read it and it sinks in. But seeing an image is worth a million of those stories, right where you see something and you think, wow,” she says.

More events from Humanities Kansas can be found on it’s website.