The subjects pictured in the exhibition Dignity live in cultures that celebrate sacred traditions that keep their communities connected to a larger natural and spiritual world. Their cultures respect and celebrate the mysteries of life and have a relationship in which man is seen as a larger natural world. Western culture has often split itself apart from the intuitive, mythic and instinctive powers that operate in many so called ‘primitive’ cultures. While we may be rich in a material or consumptive sense, we yearn for a sense of connectedness, community and spirit that are still central to many of the societies pictured in this exhibition.
Dignity is a photographic exhibition that champions and celebrates global diversity. Ever since the infancy of photography we have been fascinated with its ability to preserve and record our physical and cultural differences. Through the last 50 years advances in travel and technological improvements have only added to our interest in exploring other cultures and cataloging the exotic and unfamiliar. However, ironically as the world becomes modernized and western civilization spreads over and dominates the less developed and more isolated areas of the globe, indigenous cultures are losing their identities. Whole cultures, customs and languages are disappearing in addition to global diversity.
