Cart
Free Shipping in the UK
Proud to be B-Corp

The Debt Project Brittany M. Powell

The Debt Project By Brittany M. Powell

The Debt Project by Brittany M. Powell


£20.79
New RRP £24.99
Condition - New
Only 4 left

The Debt Project Summary

The Debt Project: 99 Portraits Across America by Brittany M. Powell

FEATURED IN THE NEW YORKER: The Faces of Americans Living in Debt

Finalist for the Dorothea Lange/Paul Taylor Prize in Documentary.

Featured on Politico, in the Washington Post, the Daily Mail, and the Huffington Post, USA Today, Business Insider, Refinery29, and Fast Company.

Based on the popular online photo series and now published in print for the first time, The Debt Project collects 99 portraits of debt across the United States, featuring people of all different backgrounds and stories, to recontextualize an often stigmatized experience.

In 2013, Brittany Powell made the difficult decision to file for bankruptcy for her photography business. In the years following the 2008 economic collapse, she found herself in a significant amount of debt, a position many Americans across the country still share, a common yet isolating and private experience often steeped in shame.

Her personal experience, bolstered by the We Are the 99% slogan that came out of the Occupy movement, brought her to start The Debt Project, an exploration of the role debt and finance plays in our personal identity and social structure. This book presents an intimate look into 99 different lives: each shares an arrestingly honest portrait in the person's home, surrounded by all their belongings, accompanied by a handwritten note of the amount of debt that person is in and the story behind the numbers.

The Debt Project, with a foreword by writer and filmmaker Astra Taylor plus resources at the back of the book to support people in debt, examines the social and personal hold financial debt has on us and invites others into a private world, while at the same empowering people to share their stories and overcome the shame they may feel.

The Debt Project Reviews

A large sum of money owed can seem strangely incorporeal--it may weigh heavily while still feeling somehow abstract, unreal. Since shame accrues to debt as inexorably as interest, many people don't like to talk about the topic, rendering it even less visible. . . A good deal of the power in the new book The Debt Project: 99 Portraits Across America by the photographer Brittany M. Powell, comes from a kind of transgressive mundaneness. Powell set about photographing ninety-nine Americans who owe money (she ended up with a few more, including herself, but started with that figure as a reference to the slogan 'We are the ninety-nine per cent') and asked them to handwrite accompanying text about how much they owe, and to whom.
--New Yorker

10 Riveting Photo Series That Are Helping to Make the World a Better Place: The inspiration behind these dramatic images will give you chills. Thanks to camera phones and social media, it seems like everyone fancies themselves an amateur photographer these days. Whether it's sharing a new recipe or showing off a new pair of shoes, picture-taking has never been more popular. But these professional photographers are using their talents for something a bit more profound. Well aware of the power of a photo, they're hoping to make the world a better place for veterans, mothers, pets and more--one picture at a time. If there's one thing no one likes, it's debt. After filing for bankruptcy in 2012, photographer Brittany Powell took a deeper look at the role of debt in our society. She created The Debt Project, a photo series that features portraits of debt-laden people in their homes, and the stories behind their hefty dues. Powell wants to open up the conversation of this highly stigmatized issue, and her goal is to photograph 99 people in the U.S. She also plans on publishing a book that details their stories.
--Woman's Day

Powell allows her photographs to speak for themselves, illustrating the strife faced by many who pursued their dreams only to end up faced with insurmountable financial obligations. As one contributor laments, 'I wake up everyday [sic] and try to be a person. To afford to be a person. Who feels like me. I am trying on empty.' Given the diversity of circumstances as well as levels of debt, this artistic project will resonate with any American who faces debt and any of the other injustices involved with income inequality. A moving, humanitarian expose on the isolation and despair of financial hardship.
--Kirkus Reviews

New ways of seeing art with an eye toward diversity and inclusivity are among this season's themes. . . Based on the online photo series that Powell began after she filed for bankruptcy for her photography business, this book brings together portraits taken in each subject's home, surrounded by all their belongings, how much they owe, and the story behind the numbers.
--Publishers Weekly

The Debt Project reveals the human faces and stories behind the numbers and statistics. What does debt look like? It is not just a number on a past-due notice. Debt looks like a human being. It looks like a mother taking out a title loan on her car, a child denied nourishment because her parents owe the school 'lunch debt,' a senior citizen having their tax returns garnished to settle a judgement, a patient jailed because they can't pay their hospital bill. . . [Powell] uses her camera to challenge preconceptions. The subjects featured in this book have a grace and dignity. They are in their homes, sometimes looking into the lens but often gazing toward the distance. They do not appear guilty or repentant, but honest, sympathetic, and unashamed. This is vital, because for centuries debtors were regarded as criminals who could be locked away and denied their basic democratic rights. Debtors, it was believed, deserved to be punished, a dehumanizing attitude that lingers on today. . . I hope Powell's powerful and empowering photographs will give more people the courage to do so.
--Astra Taylor (from the foreword)

About Brittany M. Powell

Brittany M. Powell is a photographer, multimedia artist, and educator working in central Vermont. She spent more than a decade as a freelance documentary and editorial photographer in San Francisco, CA before moving to New England. Her work focuses on income inequality, identity, and class divides across America. She has a BFA in photography from California College of the Arts and an MFA from San Francisco State University.Brittany has exhibited work at the ICP Museum in New York, Aperture Gallery in New York, SF Camerawork, Flux Factory in New York, Smack Mellon, Root Division, SOMArts, California College of the Arts, San Francisco State University, the Vermont Studio Center, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Johnson State University and the Headlands Center for the Arts. Brittany's photographs have been published in Politico, the Washington Post, the Guardian, Slate Magazine, Fast Company, Refinery29, Hyperallergic, USA Today, the Huffington Post, Marie Claire, National Geographic, the San Francisco Chronicle, Yoga Journal, and Chronicle Books amongst many others.In 2015 and 2016, Brittany was a finalist for the Dorothea Lange/Paul Taylor prize in documentary from Duke University, and was awarded fellowships from both the Vermont Studio Center and the Headlands Center for the Arts. In 2019 she was the recipient of a creation grant from the Vermont Arts Council. Astra Taylor is a writer, filmmaker, activist, and community organizer. Her active role in the Occupy Movement against financial inequality led to her establishing the Strike Debt and Rolling Jubilee campaigns, both of which fought for economic justice. Her project The Debt Collective educates and empowers people in debt and financial struggles. She is the director of the documentaries What is Democracy?, Zizek!, and Examined Life and has also authored several books and articles which have been featured in The New York Times, The LA Times, The Nation, , and more.

Additional information

NGR9781513264332
9781513264332
1513264338
The Debt Project: 99 Portraits Across America by Brittany M. Powell
New
Hardback
Graphic Arts Books
2020-12-10
216
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a new book - be the first to read this copy. With untouched pages and a perfect binding, your brand new copy is ready to be opened for the first time

Customer Reviews - The Debt Project