Working with @christine.bingham.art on this photo-documentation project has been a thrill and an honor, and sometimes pretty nerve-wracking too, since I only picked up a camera two years ago. The learning curve’s steep, but I’ve always learned best in situ and in media res. My brain’s wired that way.
This particular shoot, documenting Saint Kateri, was especially poignant. It took us over a year to make it happen, and in that time, we got to learn so much about Kateri and the people of Kanawake, which we even had the privilege of visiting (it’s just outside of Montreal). So, I’ve been as invested in this as Christine is, especially after getting my hands on “The Mohawk Warrior Society: A Handbook on Sovereignty and Survival” published by PM Press not long ago.
This is just one shot from a whole bunch of locations we shot at in and around Valley Medical. We were there because Kateri was the subject of a Eurocentric healing cult upon her death, when white people literally feasted on her corpse to cure their maladies. It’s a chilling story. But devotion to her sainthood was not a white construct. The centuries-long campaign to honor her life and ministry was wholly indigenous. It’s that tension that we hoped to explore in this shoot.
I’m especially grateful for having met Britany by way of @hanfordchallenge while organizing the Uranium Film Festival in Seattle. I was already thoroughly impressed by her professionalism and creativity back then and was absolutely delighted when she not only agreed to take part in @christine.bingham.art‘s project, but also helped co-create the shoot by seeing it as a platform for advocating for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and People.
I had chills when I took this shot, and my eyes are stinging as I write these words. There are some incredible people doing amazing work all over this state. I feel love for each and every one I’ve met over the past six years. Thank you, Britany.
The last time we were here scouting this location was still in peak pandemic, so the place was half empty. This year, the place was swarming with people — we even struggled to find parking. I worried that this would mean that someone would pop out of somewhere to halt who goes there (i.e. us). But no! This must be the most chill hospital in the world. And a real architectural and community gem for offering spaces like this Reflection Room.
Shout out to @christine.bingham.art for being so much braver and more tenacious than most of you know. The risks she takes, the plans she makes, the sweat she puts into every dream we entertain — she pushes us forward every day.
This is one of those shots that was purely for me. I’ve been thinking about this Wes Anderson waiting room for a year. So silly! But I love it.