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Over time, this project has gone through a number of incarnations.
I asked James Wylie, a professor at the Cooper Union for Arts
and Sciences in New York City, to formulate a series of questions
that could be directed to the individuals preceding each photographic
portrait. The questions were authored to address the essential
issues relative to human existence. I believed that given the
opportunity to respond in a relatively candid manner, the responses
would act as a kind of template by which one could measure the
universality of the human condition.
Individuals were chosen for interviews completely at random without
reference to social status, political, or philosophical predilection.
After encountering thousands of individuals and making tens of
thousands of photographs, what becomes clear is the unyielding
necessity to confront and to seek out our truer selves.
Our ancestors commonly serve a singular purpose. The
balance of life is defined by its cyclical nature, and
there seems to be a general understanding that we cannot
exist without others. My question is, if we understand
this about ourselves at this very basic level, why do
we not afford common levels of decency, honor, and respect
to one another as human beings? In order to advance as
a race, I believe that we must learn about our weaknesses
and explore the possibility of who we might become through
a greater understanding of ourselves. This is how I would
like to begin the conversation.
Lonnie Graham
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