Metuchen woman publishes social photography book
Metuchen resident Helen M. Stummer has had her latest book published, "Risking Life and Lens: A Photographic Memoir" by Temple University Press. The book includes 160 black and white silver gelatin photographs and text over the 40-year career of the visual sociologist/social documentary photographer.
Each chapter deals with step by step experiences on how the suburbanite became involved and learned about the realities of core neighborhoods on the Lower East Side of Manhattan from 1976-1981, and Newark from 1980-2010.
In addition to these two locations featured, Stummer also includes her travels to rural Maine, the mountains of Guatemala, miscellaneous images of the KKK, Cambodian refugees living in Jersey City and her personal history, as well.
READ:Photographing the Female opens at the Willow School
READ:Student news: Young artists honored by Middlesex County Sheriff's Office
READ:Recalling the 1967 Plainfield riots
“My passion to photograph the struggles of people no matter where they are touches on the very essence of who I am. How I see. What I see hopefully ignites the viewer’s own beliefs to question, to think, to realize and to change negative ideas,” said Stummer.
“What I do also touches on myself as an activist. A small part in changing the world. That belief energizes me to pick up the camera and show, one photograph at a time, more clearly the injustices that surround us.”
While some might fear or be uncomfortable in these areas, Stummer found that the subjects of her photographs were families struggling to survive who were receptive, kind and understanding of her mission and her art.
“Breaking down barriers and building bridges defines my life. I write as extensively as I have photographed," she said. "I am exploring my journey, to make sense out of the tragedies and joys of so many experiences, who I am, clarifying to understand, to connect the dots which all contribute to the mystery of our existence.”
Stummer also has 64 of her images on display in the New Jersey Historical Society’s (NJHS) gallery until Aug. 26. The exhibit follows the sequence of the images and stories from her book and some that have not been shown before. The NJHS is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Stummer explains that the exhibit is a small selection from the large body of work she has created over the past four decades as a social documentary photographer and visual sociologist.
She began her career as a painter but enrolled in a class at the International Center of Photography in her early 30s, originally to learn to take photos of things she wished to paint.
Ultimately she became involved in photographing the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which was what the New York Times then called one of the meanest areas in America, according to Stummer.
“'If you don't take a risk, you will never do anything meaningful' became my mantra,” she said.
Stummer realized she could use her photography as a way to convey to the general public what was going on in these low-income areas, places that seemed to be forgotten or rather areas the general masses had turned a blind eye to.
Driven out by drug dealers after four years, Stummer went on to photograph mostly in the Central Ward of Newark, and became involved with the struggles of local residents addressing injustice in education, health, housing and police practices.
“I befriended several families, seeing many of their children grow up and have children of their own," she said. "During those years, I also worked in rural Maine, Guatemala, and France with a large organization, Homeworkers Organized for More Employment (H.O.M.E.), in the fight against poverty, homelessness and hopelessness.”
Risking Life and Lens takes the reader and viewer through many of Stummer’s own experiences and challenges, as well as the everyday stories that residents shared with her.
Stummer also realized that many of these people were facing the same issues despite being miles apart.
“The same thing was going on in all of these places and it was a travesty that the powers that be looked away and still look away and don’t realize that that the people in these communities are not getting the programs that they need,” she said.
Stummer still manages to keep in touch with the people she has photographed. She encourages people to experience the stories and lives of these people for themselves.
She stresses the importance of being educated about the injustices of low-income communities, and urges those to do the right thing and look out for each other, because the feeling one gets from helping others is indescribable.
“I was there to learn and to witness without judging, striving to capture the innate qualities of dignity, spirit and elegance of people living amidst suffering and devastation," she said.
"Their grief and anger at the world’s injustice could not erase their grace and humanity, and that left a mark on my camera and my heart.”
To order "Risking Life and Lens," visit www.temple.edu/tempress or your local bookstore. The book is also available at the Metuchen Library. For more information about Stummer, visit www.hmstummer.com.