Inside Out portraits located on Fleet St. in Harbor East, Baltimore, Maryland
Photo by Kristin Stith
Public Unveiling and Celebration, June 7, 2012, 6 p.m.
I am blessed to be part of a global project in Baltimore that aims to bring people together. It all began with JR.
Street artist JR wants art to turn the world inside out and he has challenged artists everywhere to show the true face of the world by pasting photos of its people on walls. In Beaux Arts Magazine, JR says, "I would like to bring art to improbable places, create projects so huge within the community that they are forced to ask themselves questions." You can watch JR's winning TED speech here:
Baltimore has joined in this global project. A small group of artists and networking activists met one day to discuss how Baltimore could contribute to JR's idea. We discussed our concern about Baltimore's history of racial divide and wanted to find a way to bridge this by emphasizing collective similarities. After a discussion about approaching people to talk about their hopes and dreams, we decided on a question that most people would be willing to answer when approached by a stranger with a camera. "What is your favorite color?"
We approached people, told them about the project, asked them their favorite color and took their portrait. Then these photos were enlarged as black and white posters and pasted on a building for all to see. These 36 are clustered according to their favorite colors. The exhibit demonstrates that we may look different on the outside but we can share commonalities on the inside. I wonder what other things these people share in common? These bonds are not always visible to the eye.
"What is essential is invisible to the eye," the Little Prince tells us in Antoine de Saint Exupery's novel, The Little Prince.
This exhibit celebrates the Baltimore community and focuses on what unites us, rather than on what divides us. You will find it in one of downtown Baltimore's most prominent locations--Harbor East on Fleet Street.
The project was a collaborative effort among photographers Bonnie Schupp and Kristin I. Stith, painter Deborah Patterson, group action coordinator Scott Burkholder and the kind support of Baltimore area residents who agreed to participate. Resource support was generously provided by Kearney O'Doherty, Maryland Art Place, Sunbelt Rentals, Gary Vikan, Sunrise Design and Chris Janian.
The public unveiling will take place on Thursday, June 7, 6 p.m. at the installation site in Harbor East. It is located on the south side of Fleet Street between S. Exeter and President Streets. A reception will follow at Talara Restaurant, 615 S. President St.
Kevin Robinson stands beneath his wall portrait.
Photo by Bonnie Schupp
A unique exhibit where words are as important as photos
MyDefining Ourselves exhibit will soon be in its third showing but this time in Baltimore.
For two years, I challenged people to answer the question, "How do you define yourself?’" The answer had to be just one sentence beginning with the words, ‘I am.’” Answers were followed by defining portrait photos. I received nearly 100 responses from people ages 4 to 100, representing more than a dozen countries.
Selected photos from this project will be shown at the Light Gallery located at 1015 N. Charles St. from January 15 – March 12
Opening Reception: January 15th from 7-9 pm with jazz musician Kevin Robinson
Closing Reception: March 12th from 7-9 pm featuring an artist talk by Bonnie Schupp and live music
See this video for a preview without the words. Turn on your sound. Put your cursor over the picture and then to the right below the picture, and click on HQ for High Quality (high resolution) to see it at its best:
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Below are some quotations on the theme of knowing who we are that you might find thought provoking:
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ~ Dr. Seuss
Find out who you are, and do it on purpose. (?)
Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have. ~ Doris Martman
Know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly. ~ Epictetus, Roman (Greek-born) slave & Stoic philosopher (55 AD - 135 AD)
Be what you are. This is the first step toward becoming better than you are. ~ Julius Charles Hare
Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you." ~ Thomas Jefferson ?
You were born an original. Don't die a copy. ~ John Mason
To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. ~e.e. cummings, 1955
We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. ~Kurt Vonnegut
We don't know who we are until we see what we can do. ~ Martha Grimes
When you know who you truly are, there is an abiding alive sense of peace. You could call it joy because that's what joy is: vibrantly alive peace. (?)
It is the joy of knowing yourself as the very life essence before life takes on form. That is the joy of Being - of being who you truly are. ~ Stillness Speaks, EckhartTolle
All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naïve. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself. ~ Battle Royal, Ralph Ellison
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. ~Judy Garland
I am told to just be myself, but as much as I have practiced the impression, I am still no good at it. ~Robert Brault
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~ e.e. cummings
I think of life itself now as a wonderful play that I've written for myself, and so my purpose is to have the utmost fun playing my part. ~ Shirley MacLaine
Wherever you go, go with all your heart. ~ Confucius
Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you? ~ Fanny Brice
Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness. ~ Shakti Gawain
Originality is... a by-product of sincerity. ~ Marianne Moore
All the knowledge I possess everyone else can acquire, but my heart is all my own. ~ Johann von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, 1774
Yesterday, a few photographers, including me, from Creative Exposure Baltimore volunteered at Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital where we took free portraits of patients and their families. Marc Siegel is shown here taking a picture of a tiny subject. Today's Sun has an excellent article by Susan Reimer. (Sun photo Kim Hairston)
This is part of a global project called Help Portrait.
I'm not very good cooking in soup kitchens...or at home. This is one way I felt I could give to the community and was happy to do so. From the Help Portrait web site, it seems to have been a global success. It certainly was from our experience at Mount Washington.
Photo above shows photographers Marc, myself and Art. Other members of Creative Exposure Baltimore will participate in future portrait sessions.
For two years, I challenged people to answer this question: How do you define yourself? I asked people to respond in one sentence of any length beginning with I am... After they answered, I photographed them to illustrate the self-definitions. I received nearly 100 responses from people ages 4 to 100 representing 15 countries. Participants are diverse and include a Holocaust survivor, transgenders, gays, lesbians, a pilot, a police officer, poets, musicians, Muslims, Jews, Christians and athesists. Some people are well-known in their fields but most are not in the public eye.
During those two years, the project took on a life of its own. Perhaps it is best said in an African proverb: We are because I am. I am because we are.
Below are photos of my response and that of my father who was the inspiration for this project, and the talk I give about this two-year photo/word project.
Defining Ourselves
A two-year international and multi-generational photo and word project examining who we are
Background
It’s funny how small things can grow. Take words, for example. Off-hand words are not usually meant to inspire or start anything. but it is what the listener does with the words that plants a seed.
This is what happened to me.
My father has Parkinson’s disease. One day, he was trying to perform an ordinary everyday action and, frustrated with a shaking hand, he said, “Bonnie, this isn’t me.”
Hearing those words awakened something in me and I wondered how he defines himeself. Then I wondered how I would define myself. The seed was planted and it grew.
Beginnings
I spent the next two years reaching out to family, friends, acquaintances and strangers, challenging them to answer a question that goes to the core of their being.
The challenge question was this: “How do you define yourself? Answer in one sentence that begins with ‘I am...”
Some people I asked had never thought about who they are on any level of depth. Like many of us, they habitually go about their everyday lives, bobbing along on an ocean of chores and necessities.
Some people wondered why I was asking this question at all. Good question.
My answer? I believe that in order to appreciate the past, live in the moment and approach the future, we must have an understanding of who we are. And, in order to connect with our world—our environment, other people and our own spirits—we have to examine ourselves at our core. If we are unable to wrap ourselves around our own self-definition, then our lives and connections fall short of what is possible.
Defining Myself
Before asking anyone else to answer this question, I knew I had to take on the task of defining myself.
After much thought, this is my self-definition:
I am a child of the universe who lives a rich life
of creativity, connections and possibilities.
I said child of the universe... child, yes, because I wonder, explore, feel, grow, find delight, learn, walk daringly into emotional minefields — all in a setting of naiveté, trust and optimism. Yes, a child’s point-of-view.
Of the universe suggests my membership in something larger than I am.
In considering the rest of the definition, I thought about what elements of my life, if they were to disappear, would cause me to feel less alive. The answer? I must create and I must connect. My creativity can take many forms.
My connections are with people , environment and spirit.
Possibilities...suggests growth, adventure, change. If we ever lose our sense of possibilities, then we are in the process of dying.
Finally, I consider my life to be rich because of shared energy in all its facets. It is a layered life rather than a linear one. Underlying my definition, my essence, is a broad sense of love.
So, my definition does not depend on my job/career and it doesn’t necessarily depend on my health. I can still be who I am...regardless.
The Process, Considerations
Once I had my own definition, then I could begin asking other people to define themselves. It started with family and friends. Then it extended to friends of friends and sometimes strangers who I approached with this question. Some never answered while others were intrigued by the question.
One thing I stood firm on. I refused to share anyone’s answer with those who were still struggling to find their own. This was uncomfortable for many. They wanted sample answers. They wanted to make sure they answered correctly and in the way I expected. My only condition was it had to be one sentence, of any length, that began with “I am.” I assured people that there were no right or wrong answers unless they didn’t follow those two conditions. Whatever they said would be correct because they were defining themselves and they knew themselves better than I did. Who was I to say they were wrong?
After I received each response, I then shared other answers and portraits. We scheduled a time to do a collaborative portrait that illustrated the self-definition. Logistics were difficult because people were spread around the globe. I made a 600-mile detour to Indiana to get one portrait. For another I flew to California and for another I drove to upstate New York. Some were taken in Japan. One problem I hadn’t anticipated was the difficulty there would be in scheduling time for the portraits. We’re talking about busy people. And some had the idea that this was a small on-going project with no end. They kept saying, “One day we’ll get together to do this.”
A few people responded through e-mail but, because of distance and time, we were unable to connect for a portrait.
Once time was scheduled, then we usually worked together to come up with the concept. As a photographer used to doing my own thing in my own way, this was a different kind of challenge for me. There were two of us working on the portrait. Some people were uncomfortable with showing their faces or being in front of a camera lens at all. I didn’t want to use anything that made someone uncomfortable but, at the same time, I insisted on remaining true to my concept. (If you want to know more about technical details such as camera, lights, etc., you can talk with me later.)
In spite of all the challenges, somehow, over the course of two years, this project has come to fruition. Amazing.
Answers have come from people ages 4 to 100 representing 12 countries. Responses include a Holocaust survivor, transgendered people, gays, lesbians, an airline pilot, Arabs, Jews, Christians. Most participants are not in the public eye – just ordinary people. However, some are known locally and internationally.
The Responses
It fascinates me how people answered this question.
Of all the responses, 24% include career and hobbies in their definitions. Of course, this is not surprising. Consider how many hours a typical person might work at a job/career in a lifetime. Probably more than 93,000 hours, considering working ages 20 to 65.
Twelve percent mention God, spirit or the divine. This includes a wide range of believers and non-believers from various religious backgrounds.
And don’t forget love. Fifteen percent of those who responded to my question have “love” or a form of the word in their definitions. Petronio Bendito says it best in one of my favorite responses, “I am all that I love.” Many self-definitions made me think, but this one the most.
It is most significant that almost half—42%—defined themselves by their relationships. The percentage is even higher when you consider the definitions that imply relationships. This is the area of greatest similarly among respondents. I don’t think anyone would dispute the importance of relationships and how they lead us to new emotional places and better understanding of who we are.
Fred Muir, a Unitarian Universalist minister who participated in this project, puts it succinctly in his self-definition, “I am my relationships.”
It is noteworthy that most people did not define themselves by their nationality or race. Nine percent included age or age-related terms, the majority being young people. Thirteen percent used gender as part of their definitions but none of these were the two transgendered participants.
I find it interesting that 12% expressed a dichotomy, a feeling of the complexity and tug and pull of their being. How often have all of us felt fragmented and torn? How many of us sometimes do battle inside ourselves when making decisions? Recognition of this dichotomy is recognition of our full humanness. Joe Justice, police officer, said it well, “I am simple and complex, logical but emotional, aware yet eternally ignorant, powerful although miniscule—all of these dichotomies because I am human.”
In defining ourselves, there is a consideration of time. Ten percent connected in some way with time... past, present or future. Dirk Hamilton’s, the shortest definition, states simply, “I am here.” However, it is a deceptively simple answer. Those words imply that he embraces and lives in the present, an important tenet of Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth where he says, “People who are able to be present in the now are closest to the essence of their true being.”
In President Carter’s famous “malaise” speech, he pointed out, “Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.” It is heartening that not one person in this project sought identity through ownership.
Seven percent of the people who responded to my question recognized an evolving self. For some, including my husband, before defining themselves, it was important to understand that who they are today may not be who they are tomorrow. A former student of mine, Justin Wainio, defined himself with this contradiction in mind, “I am always changing while always staying the same.” Anais Nin has an interesting comment in her diary. She says it’s impossible to define yourself because of possibilities. “How can I accept a limited definable self when I feel in me all possibilities? ... I never feel the four walls around the substance of the self, the core. I feel only space.”
In fact, five percent mentioned “possibilities.” This perspective looks forward into the future for what can change, what can be and who we can further become. There is an openness in those who included “possibilities” ... an openness and acceptance of the evolution of “becoming.”
Final Thoughts
This has been a difficult but exciting journey inspired by my father’s comment and it grew into something much larger than I’d anticipated. I learned from everyone who answered and I discovered something part way into the project. This whole thing is not really about me or any one person. It’s about the you and me that makes up the we. Over the past two years, it has taken on a life of its own and I no longer own it. It is ours. Perhaps it is said best in an African Proverb:
For two years, photographer Bonnie Schupp challenged people to answer the question, "How do you define yourself?" The answer had to be just one sentence beginning with the words, "I am..." Answers were followed by defining portrait photos. She received nearly 100 responses from people ages 4 to 100, representing a dozen countries.
Exhibit opening:Sunday, April 5, 12 - 1:30 p.m.
333 Gallery Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis 333 Dubois Rd. Annapolis, MD 21401
Bonnie J. Schupp (1944-2021) was raised in Baltimore and graduated from old Eastern High School in Feb. 1963. She earned a bachelor's degree from Frostburg State College, her master's from Johns Hopkins University, and, at age 60, a doctorate in communications design from the University of Baltimore. She was over the years a public school teacher, camera store owner, writer and award-winning photographer, and mother of two daughters,. She self-published half a dozen books combining her writing and photographs, notable among them "Dog Tag Poetry" (2012, Blurb Books), "365 Gifts on Turning 70" (2016, Amazon), and, posthumously, her memoir "Curious Possibilities" (2021, Amazon) edited by her husband, David M. Ettlin.
