Question Number Nine

Question Number Nine
Series of Five Digital Prints
22”x 30”
March 2010

This series of portraits explores the categorizations of people– judgements and assumptions made that were only skin-deep. The project’s name comes from question number nine on the 2010 census – “What is person 1’s race?” Every person photographed experienced an awkward situation about their race or ethnic group because of a snap judgement based on their appearances alone. Through this series of portraits, custom-made t-shirts correct any stereotypes that might be made, avoiding awkwardness and pre-judgement (almost) altogether. People are categorized by what they are not–and for once, it makes life simpler.

Special thanks to Thomas Martinez for help with lighting and photography.