Danielle Villasana: On representation and equity

In this episode, we talk with Danielle Villasana about the importance of telling the whole story. She describes how the media industry has been complicit in promoting a stereotypical view of marginalised communities, and she describes the negative impact that this has on trust in the media. Danielle spends time unpacking our individual responsibilities as image-makers, both toward the people in our photographs and toward our colleagues.

What you’ll find inside:

“Ultimately this is about truth telling. This is directly liked to how people view the world, and when we are denying those voices into that dialogue, we’re basically failing society. So, I believe that our industry can only be better by creating community … and making space for one another. It will continue to be problematic if that doesn’t happen.” (6:10)

“It’s not just about being a good human being, it’s also about protecting the media as a source of truth. So everybody should be invested in bettering the industry through inclusivity and equity, and consent is one of the many, many things we could do to improve.” (14:32)

Informed consent (19:20)

Release forms (21:10)

“There’s a lot of power in the media industry, there’s a lot of power in the way that we make stories and portray our world” (27:10)

“You have to tell the complete story because when we only tell little fragments and elements of the story we are not doing our duty as journalists because we are only giving viewers that one slice of the truth.” (33:15)

Quote by Shiyam Galyon: “I want to live in a world that feels moved by photos of non-white people at their best moments in life, rather than at their worst.” (34:40)

Links:

Everyday Projects

Authority Collective

Authority Collective’s “Do No Harm” statement

Women Photograph

Diversify Photo

Shiyam Galyon