On the day Senator Kamala Harris made history as the first woman and the first woman of color to become Vice President-Elect, Kurt and I started work on a series of 46 photographs to celebrate Harris and to honor Lexington women of color who lead.
We began by recognizing we had already photographed many women of color who are leaders in our community for this artwork: Lexington in the Time of COVID-19. So we wrote to each of them to share about what we were doing and to ask if we could include the portraits we had taken of them. We also asked who else we should photograph.
From the start, one of our biggest challenges was clarifying what we mean by “lead,” a word steeped in male-centered notions of leadership.
We explained we wanted to photograph women who are leaders in their communities, whether because they head an organization, lead a movement, chair or sit on a board, own a business, or are beloved by many.
Over the next two months, we photographed women who are considered pillars of their communities; women who tend to the health of immigrant and Latinx kids; women who mentor fellow immigrant women and teach them English; women who advocate for other women; women who know when city government votes on resolutions that hurt their neighbors and who love their neighbors fiercely; women who teach and inspire; women who blaze new trails.
These women shared their stories with us and always asked, “Do you need more women?”
It’s impossible to say no to an offer to be introduced to more amazing women! Which is why this series includes 56 photographs of Lexington women of color, even though Kurt and I initially set out to capture 46.
We are taking this as a sign of who our next 10 Vice Presidents and–dare we hope–Presidents may be. And we feel honored to have met so many incredible women, thankful that they let us photograph them, and humbled by what they do ❤
#KamalaHarris #WomenSupportingWomen #BIPOCwomen
(If you’d like to share this post with people who aren’t on FB or if you prefer to view these photographs on a website, head to https://lexcovid19.com/)
Tessa and Isabel with Clementine
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Janeth
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Mizari
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Preeti with Piku
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Huajing
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Marilyn
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Seema
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Srimati
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Suvas and Nima
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Isabel with Benni
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Mae
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Patrick and Keiko
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Nadia
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Brigit
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Michael and Erin
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Sean, Kadyn, and Tia
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Etel
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Tiffany
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April
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Saburah
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Kenzie
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Jessica
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Brandy
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Sarah
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Deidra
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Echo and Emily
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Valentin, Ellie, Liz, Izabel, Adri, and Jonathan
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Justin and Christine
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Ka’imilani
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Ashley and Trevor
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Ian, Luis, and Minerva with Kota
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Rodney and Andrea
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Adalhi, Sydney, Adalhi, Bryan, and Mariano
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Ricki
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Mike, Bodhi, Toa, and Bindi
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Christine
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Earl, Analia, and Jazmine with Gio
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Crystal, Ivory, and Ron
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Aardra
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Danielle, Miles, Ellington, Michael, and Kevin
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Chloe, Caden, Julie, and Scott
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Fouad, Hanan, Ayman, and Zarin with Leo
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Martina, Darius, Marcellus, Ivy, and Chamari
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Shayna and Chamari
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Wesley, Malia, Misty, and Rebecca
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Srikant and Lakshmi with Fibo
Lakshmi Sriraman: “I am a visual and performing artist, based in Lexington.
Emanuelle, Zachariah, Shana, and David
Shana Sippy is Assistant Professor of Religion at Centre College and founding
Samantha and King
Samantha Johnson is Director of The Night Market, Social Media Lead at
Isa, Maria, Tomas, Catalina, and Dave
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Ciara
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Bilal, Fajima, Helue, Hakeem, Sumaya, and Jenna
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Iman, Saphia, and Hannah
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Omar, Abla, Hadeel, Ali, and Hoda
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Mercedes, Nicholas, Camille, Chris
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