THEME #21Winners2021MAR

COVID

SHORT LIST

DETAIL

Statement

Front Yard

The front yard is as much a metaphor as it is a space. When the shelter-in-place order was announced in March, I turned to my community to make portraits of people in their front yards.

I decided to disrupt the one-sided gaze so problematic in documentary photography by opening up the process to collaboration by inverting the process where people choose how they want it to be seen. Making black and white prints, I invited families to color them however they liked. It is a more in-depth conversation of how easy it is to break barriers of judgment by opening our worlds to each other.

Profile

ASHIMA YADAVA

Bio - With the camera as her conduit, Ashima Yadava believes in art as a means to social activism and reform. Her work is rooted in documentary practice with a keen focus on issues of gender equality, race, and social justice. She is a Director's Fellow from the International Center of Photography, New York.
Born in New Delhi, India, Ashima now lives in San Francisco, California.

Jury selection

We have seen many portraits of families, masked outside their houses, but what really makes this set of images stand out is inviting the families to colour their own photos after a black and white print was delivered. The characters in the family shots equate very well with their colouring techniques. In summary, a brilliant twist to a well-known formula.