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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1985)
Portrait of a Community by Morrie Cam hi A m o n g those things I don't know is the answer to a pertinent question. W hy are hum anist photographers consistently given less atten tion by galleries, m useum s, collectors and publishers? It seem s inconsistent with our own definition "as hum ans" for this to be so. N o fundam ental concern for our species will be forthcom ing if we do not provide it for ourselves. After a lifetime of philosophic inquiry and construction, Jean Paul Sartre announced his deathbed discovery: the m eaning o f life is our experience o f each other. H u m an ism is certainly centered on hum an nature and activity. But there is a small undercurrent of additional m eaning that filters into the word, it is the implication that one of the important things we do, as hum ans, is to architect ideals. T h e re have been waves of pessimism in the photography of people. T h e photographer’s preoccupation has centered on the unfortunate, the impoverished, the unscrupulous, the brutal, the ugly or the bizarre. Even those photographers concerned with social co m m en tary often reduce their subjects to the cliche of the pathetic. A sm all minority of positivism has persisted. These are photog raphers who would "rather light a candle than curse the darkness." T h e re is the impish hedonism of Lartigue, the understated em brace o f A linder’s Am erica, the poetic shadow-people of De Carava or the partisan handshake of Dotter. T h e re are too few others. Now, added to this small group, is Lisa K anem oto’s heartfelt totally open and accepting look at the hom osexual community. Her subjects apparently trust her presence. They respond to her cam e ra with naturalness. F o r a subject so often treated sensationally, with exploitation, with preordained scenarios of myth or forbidden fantasy— Kanemoto's approach is refreshing. T h e photographs are neither pretentious or erudite. W e m eet these people as Lisa Kanem oto does, in the com m on m an n e r of day-to-day life. They share themselves twice: once through the observations of K anem oto’s cam era and again when they write for us on the facing page. F o r those who have already been determ ined to know this im portant, dynam ic section of our society, there are probably no new discoveries or insights in the K anem oto essay. This does not dim inish its importance. Anyone who has pur chased a case of wine has voted for the value of repeated savorings. Is the second bottle dim inished m erely because it wasn’t the first? Today, m ore than ever, w arm em braces need repeating. — M orrie Cam hi C opyright Lisa Kanemoto. Used by perm ission. Introduction to W e Are by Morrie Camhi. "And together we re-create each other." (Kaddish Symphony, From Kabbalistic literature) Those who are full o f resentm ent have a harder adjustm ent to m ake. - Genie M. McAfee. Telephone Craft Person; and son Ken I take m y calling as a rabbi, psychologist and pastoral counselor with great seriousness. It was necessary for m e to undergo treat m e n t and full psychoanalysis to adjust to marriage and children. T h e psych .»analytic process continued to enable m e to adjust to w hat was m y lifestyle. My belief in a creator gave m e m y key: for as his creation, m y desires and needs could be perceived and are natural. Thus I can live honestly as a gay person. - Dr. Benjam in Marcus. Rabbi