[Music]
my name is josue rivas
and here are my tips for co-creating
with indigenous communities
i'm interested in the way that humanity
is seen and how we see ourselves and
therefore
you know especially in image making and
stock photography i'm interested in
seeing how that can evolve into a place
where
not only are we using imagery but we're
also being intentional about the imagery
and how it was made
the first teaching that i would share
with people about creating intentional
portraiture is that
you are co-creating with somebody and
that that person in front of your lens
it's another human being
and i think that
language is very important when it comes
to
the way that we talk about portraiture
and the way we talk about photography in
general so a lot of times people say
that you know i'm gonna put my subject
this way or my subject that way and i
think that we have to be very careful
with how you use those words because
when we're subjecting somebody
we are telling them that we are going to
put them in a position of being
extracted from same way it goes with
capturing a lot of people say oh i
captured that this way and i captured
that that way and a lot of the times i
think that people don't realize that
what they're manifesting into reality is
this
act you know that we are acting in in a
way that it's going to take from
somebody else so portraiture
as a whole it's an intimate process
i think a very important teaching that
that i've learned through making images
with people in portraiture especially
it's that i have to ask myself the
question of why am i doing this and who
am i who am i doing this for i try to
make sure that what the reason why i'm
making things is because again there's
this larger understanding of connection
and making sure that people feel honored
and seen and in the process if i'm
making it for example for a company or a
corporation that that person's image and
that person's
sacredness doesn't get lost
the third teaching that i would like to
share is that as we make things as we
make portraiture we have to be mindful
of where those images end up and how
those images are disseminated to the
public and i think that as indigenous
peoples there's always been a
you know a place where we are removed
from the community
some advice that i will give creators
especially when they're working with
indigenous communities is to
understand that when they're stepping
into another community that is not
theirs
that they are guest in that community
and
that community might carry and
apply different protocols
even in different nations throughout the
country and throughout the world so that
you know when we understand that there
is a
different way of approaching
a specific community then we can learn
and we can listen
that is a big part of this is listening
when we step into a community and we
come in and we feel
entitled to telling the story
there is already a block there you know
when we step into a community and
understand that you are privileged to be
able to tell the story and that
community has to give you that story to
tell
then at that point you're really
co-creating with a community
for me co-creation it's it's a circular
process and it's a circular
way of working and it's also
making for the people that came before
you and for the people that will follow
as we continue to learn to co-create
which ultimately goes beyond photography
it goes into our you know our family
units and it goes into our community and
it goes into our nations
that as we do this and as we practice it
that we'll be able to
dream and envision together
something that is different than what we
have
pla relatives my name is josue rivas and
i'm co-creating a collection for adobe
stock
you