Postcards from the Edge

Currently on view at MOCA North Miami Nov. 17, 2021 – October 2, 2022 - Postcard from the Edge: A Dispatch of Hope, a selection of images made by Iris PhotoCollective photojournalists and associates while on assignment around the world. These images serve as confirmations of human resilience and strength. Curated by Carl Juste.‍

Postcard from the Edge:A Dispatch of Hope

‍In the early 1900s, during the golden age of postcards, newspaper stories were typically published without accompanying images. A new class of photographers emerged to fill the gap: postcard photographers who documented major public events much as photojournalists do today. Postcards became the fastest and cheapest way to send news out of town, as well as more personal reports of places visited.As a global correspondent for over thirty years, I have borne witness to the weight of being human in locations all over this planet. Photojournalists are present in challenging and painful circumstances: natural disasters, war, famine, and social injustice. We often find ourselves perched on an edge, not knowing how we will return intact from an experience. As a photojournalist, even when documenting human beings at their worst, I always feel it is important to search for redemptive images beyond the messages of the headlines.In 1999, I cofounded Iris Photo Collective (IPC), assembling photojournalists who document the relationship between people of color and the world. Their work counteracts the images of violence, poverty, and suffering that dominate mainstream media portrayals of Black lives. Postcard from the Edge: A Dispatch of Hope is a selection of twenty images made by Iris PhotoCollective photojournalists and associates while on assignment around the world. For this presentation at MOCA, I have chosen five images that represent the larger group and serve as confirmations of human resilience and strength. These images were made in situations of extreme suffering, yet both the photographers and subjects were able to extract from them moments of peace, power, and joy. These may not be the images that were published in the news, yet each is a small match in a dark room.- Carl Juste