Rodger Richardson " let me sow love" - Niko Fernandez

Rodger Richardson

1)  Technical decisions and why I'm compelled/moved by said tech decisions?
I like that he is choosing to be close and make the compositions to be tight as well as the the lack of use of color. I think that those two things help further and tell the emotions that are told by the subjects faces.  I think its very important that he's photographing people also seem to be about their own business and shows that he's been approaching strangers for these Photographs and that adds another layer to this series. I really enjoy the concept of meeting strangers and having them open up to me and be willing to be photographed  
2)  What I believe the artist's intentions and concept are?
Richardson is trying to talk about the racial divide in the country and he had explained that he normally shoots in color. I think he chose to photograph this in b&w to be able to add to the intensity to his subject matter. Recently since our new election I feel like there was a huge rise in how we all segregated ourselves and Richardson feels like we have been moving backwards from the progress we have made in the past. 
3)  How do I personally respond to the intentions and concepts?
I think its important that he is pointing out this issue. In the United States there has always been a issue with equal rights and as a society i felt like we had made a lot of progress. I moved here with my family because of that progress and since the 2016 presidential election its seemingly just been a constant removal of the progress we have made. I think this series is important because I feel like this is an issue people are trying to currently ignore. People feel as if things are final and equal for both parties when in reality we are all starting to separate each other again and reverting back to old tendencies. 
4) Why I chose this artist?
I chose this because of the style of portraits that were taken that were similar to the project that i'm currently working on. 
there is a sense of authenticity that comes out of peoples faces. Peoples faces and gestures tell massive amounts of how their feeling and I think this was an important part of this project. The lack of color from what the artist usually works in also shows that he thinks this important and out of his body of work he wants this project to stand out. I really love that he cares about whats going on around him and that resonates within me simply because I care massively about the people who are around me and as an immigrant I would love to see this self segregation come to and end.