A family photograph
reached millions.
Conversation Pieces
brings that story
into the room.
In the room
What visitors see
Visitors move among enlarged family photographs.
Short captions give each image its family context.
People look at the photographs before they speak with one another.
Why I made it
A photograph of my grandmother reached millions of strangers online.
The project exists to slow that response down.
A room gives people time to look before they decide what the photograph means.
Why this is an exhibition
The photographs remain on view throughout the visit.
People can enter the work without hearing me speak first.
I speak after people have looked at the photographs.
My talk does not replace the installation.
What I do
I adapt the layout to the room.
I install the photographs with the host.
I introduce the family story.
I guide the conversation.
One photograph started it.
When I posted a picture of my grandmother kissing another woman, I opened a public conversation that reached millions of people. The image moved beyond my family. It helped me tell my own story.
Zioness helped me turn that response into Conversation Pieces. I began with photographs from my own family. I use them to speak about being Jewish. They also let me speak about my Okinawan family. They let me speak about my life as a gay man.
For hosts
The exhibition works in galleries.
It also works in JCCs.
It can fit inside a classroom.
It can also fit inside a community room.
The photographs can stand on C-stands.
They can also mount directly to a wall.
Piloted with LUNAR
The two core photographs are selected.
The opening story is written.
The portable layout has been piloted with LUNAR.
The full print set is still being produced.
The final captions are still being written.
The next host will help carry the project into its next room.