Side By Side

When I think of the phrase “side-by-side,” I can think of it as the easy friendship and movement of these two young girls in Ethiopia, or more ambitiously, as peace advocacy. What those two applications have in common are that each of us has a gift or gifts and the way we use those gifts can be used for positive or negative.

When I travel worldwide and enter communities, I spend time with the community, learn from them, and make images with them while practicing my art. This offers profound privileges. The more the work becomes a mutual project and the more intentions are to celebrate all of life, the more we are made aware of our unity. The people with whom I photograph are not subjects, separate, or a spectacle; they are my mentors. Their dignity is expressed by their countenance, undeniable and emanating from within. To walk side-by-side in that space with them leaves me feeling highly blessed. I travel among them in a constant state of awe and learning.

We can all be of service or help each other. Returning my thoughts to these two girls and the innocent connection making them stronger in unity than they are alone, I remain aware this does not mean they have no individual strength or gifts available for mutual enjoyment. I bask in their sturdy spines and how they incline toward each other as they move ever forward in the courage, power, and grace of deep, side-by-side friendship.