Photographer Joshua Rashaad McFadden exhibit explores how images impact race and identity

Does it matter who photographs the pivotal moments in American History?

One of Rochester's most prominent photographers, Joshua Rashaad McFadden, believes so.

"The power of the camera can expose things like George Floyd," McFadden said. "The Black woman who documented that is why Derek Chauvin was found guilty. There was a shift in the country because of that. People feel empowered to document those things and not feel scared of the violence that may be enacted against them for using the tool of photography to get justice. So I do think it matters who holds the camera."

Whenever McFadden has held the camera throughout his career, his images have sparked discussions on race, identity and the American experience over the last 15 years.

Those images are now on display as part of his first solo exhibition, "I Believe I'll Run On," at the George Eastman Museum until June 19. The show focuses on seven of McFadden's photo series and chronicles the intimacies of Black life in the United States.

McFadden finds the love of photography and a career

McFadden's journey through photography to this moment in his career started intimately when his mother gifted him a camera at seven. The medium is entrenched in his family roots. His grandfather was a photography apprentice in Harlem, New York, when his mother was a child. On his father's side of the family, numerous relatives worked for and retired from Kodak.

"It was literally passed through my lineage on both sides," Mcfadden said.

He developed a love for the craft in these early years and used the camera to capture family moments and daily walks, but Mcfadden never envisioned his passion could one day be a career.

"At that age, I guess I needed somebody to tell me it could be a profession," he said. "A lot of times, people don't consider photography an art, which is a problem. There wasn't much support for me as a Black artist here in Rochester; I wanted to leave."

At 18, McFadden left Rochester to study fine art at Elizabeth City State University, a historically Black university in North Carolina. It wouldn't be long before the HBCU culture captivated the young artist.

"It was the bands, the football games, the everything," McFadden said. "I just immediately connected with it and went further south after that."

Farther down south meant Georgia. By the time McFadden began his graduate studies at The Savannah College of Art and Design, he had reconnected with his passion for photography after documenting the South's response to the election of Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president.

In 2014, the police shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black man in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked protests nationwide. Freddie Gray's death in Baltimore police custody did the same in 2015. McFadden once again focused his lens on the South's response, photographing demonstrations in Atlanta and Alabama, cultivating the skill with each event.

"Back to back, there were just protests everywhere," he said. "I was able to take specific classes on documentary photography. I learned that there were Black photographers before me, and I started to take more conceptual approaches. That's when it all clicked. I can do what I love and develop my ideas using the camera."

It's not easy to make a career out of practicing photography. After traveling the world with his talent, 29-year-old Joshua Rashaad McFadden began envisioning the next step on his path. That next step was his first — back home.

After accepting a residency at the Visual Studies Workshop, a nonprofit in downtown Rochester, McFadden became aware of a job opening teaching at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

"Was this another step in the journey," McFadden asked himself?

Rochester was the city he emphatically wanted to escape from in his youth. Nonetheless, the job opportunity and growing interest by the George Eastman Museum to feature his work made McFadden rethink his opposition.

"I really thought about it," Mcfadden said. "What if I was avoiding something that I shouldn't."

McFadden is now an assistant professor of photography at RIT's School of Photographic Arts and Sciences.

Earlier this year, the internationally renowned photog took part in an Eastman museum event discussing his work, the "I Believe I'll Run On" exhibit, and his new book of the same name.

Lyle Ashton Harris, a widely exhibited multi-disciplinary artist, moderated the talk. McFadden credits part of his success to Harris's mentorship. He believes success in the practice requires an openness to learning from the masters and staying true to your ideals.

"A lot of times, people are not willing to listen to their intuition," Mcfadden said. "I knew what motivated me to do the work I do, and I knew that I wanted to use the tool of photography to express those things. I think the key to success is following that."

Information on visiting the Eastman museum to witness "I Believe I'll Run On" can be found on its their website: https://www.eastman.org/mcfadden.

Contact Robert Bell at: rlbell@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @byrobbell & Instagram: @byrobbell. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Joshua Rashaad McFadden photo exhibit at the George Eastman Museum