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Mark Daniel Lacy: On Photography, p3. Interview by Janni Chowdhuri What other technology is coming? That's a tough question. Digital video become far more viable than digital photography long ago, but it took people a long time to figure that out. That's because it is cheaper and editing can be more cost-effective, but it does require a certain level of production effort beyond what most people are willing to invest. Digital video is temporarily in a suspended state for the new visual professional looking for inexpensive solutions. The broadcast format has changed to high-definition, which means that the current DV equipment is becoming obsolete. If you ever think someone is giving you a cheaper solution that will last for a long time, rest assured, they're not. It's rare in our recent history when a new technology has had more direct impact than a new visual media, like color film, television, and the Internet. But it has happened in a fairly silent manner. That is the development and use of lasers, which revolutionized many things we take for granted, with positive and negative implications. Clearly there are technologies we tend to ignore if we don't see them regularly. The methods to utilize information are pretty remote and aggressive. Aside from marketing and profiling, it looks like cameras and databases will be used to patrol the streets and look for suspected criminals in airports. That's fine for catching terrorists until you are mistaken for one because of the computer's thirst for probability. People will experience this kind of investigation widely and find that their identity is constantly scrutinized by creditors, marketers and government agencies. It's like 1984 is emerging very slowly. Did September 11 change your commitment to your work? It definitely changed things. My commitment to photography didn't necessarily improve, but my commitment to other important issues did. What issues? The need for greater cultural literacy. There are other beliefs that were reinforced following September 11. I'm more dedicated to helping the community and artists through the Houston Institute and exploring cultural topics in my writing. Why did you start the Houston Institute? I can identify two or three experiences that made it happen. I was volunteering for FotoFest's Literacy through Photography program. A student in one of the classes presented an essay to go along with her pictures of flowers in front of her row house. She explained that she couldn't sleep because of gunfire late at night in her neighborhood and that her brother and father were arguing. Her brother brought home a gun. It was a desperate condition that could not have been related by a sociologist. I knew that her art, however unintentional it may have been, was critical communication that is necessary in our society. Life is difficult to comprehend where people have little or no self-expression. I also look at economic conditions for cultures in our region. It's (There is) a terrible misconception in the 'New World Order' or 'Global Economy' that economic issues are universal. In fact the economy is not the same thing to all people. It is different in Third Ward and Austin and Tamaulipas and Afghanistan. There are prevailing cultural issues. The more one group has the opportunity to get ahead, the more likely another group is to fall behind. One group gains more or profits from the other. That's 'Intro to Business 101'. Not everyone will prosper and not everyone will want to consider the standards the same way. Understanding the effects of assimilation is an important part of cultural literacy. Is photography an important part of what you're doing with the institute? Photography is one of the most polarized fields, where people use it for both beneficial and destructive purposes. Effective photographs can inspire greed or promote charity. Look at John Wesley Powell. He successfully used photography to promote himself into his historic role to survey and preserve the great open West and with the mysterious images, he inadvertently brought about its demise. I think I have worthwhile uses for photography. I make it a part of everything I'm involved in -- travel, radio, and even more directly, teaching. As I said before, it's my job, like it or not. How do you use it on the radio? Okay, maybe it's the other way around. Music and visual images, particularly photography in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, are common to our experience with different cultures. You really need both (photography and music) to begin your understanding or develop your interest in other cultures. With the World Music Show I can take people on an educational adventure without leaving Houston. With everything I do, I try to encourage people to improve their quality of life by helping them become culturally literate and open their world to great diverse interests. KTRU is an important place where people develop their ability to think independently, without too much reliance on entertainment media. The expeditions and photography presentations I organize foremost have an educational benefit. I use the themes of my radio shows, the music and research I've done, when I give the presentations. The travel I organize gives me the opportunity to make images to accompany the dialogue and music I use for the presentations. I can see that you've changed from black and white to color photography. As a student I couldn't afford color film processing. The change of subjects from filthy streets and punk clubs to cultural celebrations may have influenced that. Color is used to represent the beauty of life in many cultures, especially in celebrations and festivals. Color is more present in other cultures. Look at our deed-restricted beige neighborhoods compared to the vibrant colonial cities of Mexico and notice our legions of gray-suited corporate desk-sitters. Compare the American dollar to the Mexican peso or Indian rupi. Color is powerful symbolically and we are attracted to it, almost unexplainably. In a less materialistic society, culture is life and quality of life. Are pictures of culture as important as your pictures of political activities? I think so. A man I photographed in the remote Mexican village of Batopilas, Señor Manuel, told us, 'I support the tourists.' (He said this) not because we came to his little tienda to spend a few pesos each day, but because others in town believed as outsiders we were exposing their cartel way of life. Ten teenage children were killed in a shootout with Federales as they transported marijuana out of the canyon. I can't document it(the tragedy) in retrospective, but I can show the relevant photographs I have made of the place and people, and relate pertinent stories with the illustrations. So you didn't make money with photography as a student. Did it pay off later? I made money, but I couldn't pay for college on five dollars a picture working for the student newspaper. I had two or three editor positions at a time. I don't remember what they paid, but I'm sure I make more in a couple of hours now than I did in a semester. I had to do freelance work. It required me to be technically proficient. Fine arts prepared me for critical analysis, conceptual thinking, issues, aesthetics, connotation, and so on, but didn't prepare me with the technical ability necessary to elevate my standards. I took the weekend assignments for the Houston Chronicle that they couldn't pawn off on journalists with any sense. I'll show you some of the situations if I can find the pictures. I would like to tell you more about the fundamental questions I developed about journalism that led me to write about major issues in the clearly biased way I think about them. But I can't give anything away, more than the "chronicles" I read from occasionally. They are the origin of my participation in cultural and political forums. Notice we're back to my non-profit interests. Daily news was stifling, but it also wasn't going to pay off student loans. I tell my students that the scale for photography is figured on a steep curve, $5, $500, $5000... You'll know when you're good. At the time though I had to do design and surveying work in the deadly Oklahoma summers, but I never picked cotton [Ed: Another music reference.]. It was inevitable that I was going to do corporate work. I was lucky to have clients that were not contrary to my beliefs. And those commercial jobs allow me to teach. Teaching is another one of my non-profit activities. I give the little revenue to the Houston Institute. How did you get to pick the job you like, or believe in? I didn't necessarily choose, but I wasn't ever forced to take a bad one. Following college, the most idealistic of fine artists become waiters and bank tellers. I didn't want to study journalism and photography and work as a surveyor. I don't think I could have worked to promote something I don't believe in, which is the reason some of my friends don't have photography jobs today. The concept of 'honest work' is an issue I'm exploring in my writing. The end result of someone's work should be accomplishment and dignity, not detrimental to others. Promotion of education was acceptable to me. When I started working for the university, it had no way to compete in the emerging world of communications where the image governs all. I found the university severely disadvantaged, as all universities were suddenly competing in the corporate world. No one understood the requirements to move into modern times and everything was still done as it had been in the '70s and '80s. I had the ability and expertise to do things as they were going to be done in the next century. Even in my work at the university, cultural experience is much more important to me than command of technology. I'll show you my clever quote in the University of Houston 75th Anniversary book. I'm not thrilled with the quality of the book, but I successfully delivered the message that we have to consider the value of the diversity of the campus community. It's in the archive. PLEASE STAND BY: More of the interview is currently being transcribed and will be available shortly. |
