Jess Crombie: On storytelling partnerships
In this episode, we talk with Jess Crombie about the importance of collaboration and partnership when telling other people’s stories. Jess describes some of her experiences from working in the humanitarian sector which made her question the way that content is normally collected, and which led her to a more considered practice that accounts for the power dynamics in these storytelling partnerships.
What you’ll find inside:
Nigerien proverb: “A song is sweeter from its author’s mouth.” (3:00)
“I was having … these incredibly intimate and personal conversations with people about some of the most challenging times in their lives, and as I was having them, I was thinking: Am I allowing this person to tell the story the way they want? Do they have enough time to tell their story in the way they want?” (9:20)
“It was that moment that I realised that all I had to do was to just be really clear and explain what I was actually trying to do, and then people could make the informed choice about whether or not to share, what stories they shared with me.” (12:35)
“But I think, yeah, it’s about that constant reflection and awareness which is really, a bit exhausting and sometimes you don’t want to do it, but if you’re making work about the most vulnerable people it seems really irresponsible not to be reflecting on your practice constantly.” (17:45)
“Ultimately it’s about a conversation, a really, really in-depth, honest conversation, and about allowing yourself the time to have that conversation.” (23:10)
“When I say partner with you, I don’t mean, you know, giving them a camera and getting them to take the pictures themselves, but partner with you in terms of being active contributors to the story you’re telling.” (26:25)
What does photo ethics mean to Jess?
“I think photography ethics for me is about considering not so much the act of taking the photograph, as who you are photographing and what they think about the story that you’re telling.” (41:00)
Links:
The People in the Pictures: Vital perspectives on Save the Children’s image making by Jess Crombie and Siobhan Warrington
The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Catching Alices by Save the Children
Jess Crombie has over fifteen years' experience creating content in the humanitarian sector. In her most recent role as Global Content Director Jess sat on the senior leadership team at Save the Children. Now Jess works as a senior lecturer on documentary image making and ethics at London College of Communication, and as a consultant helping NGOs deliver their stories powerfully and ethically.
Jess commissioned and co-authored The People in the Pictures, a ground-breaking piece of research that asks those pictured in NGO content their opinions on both the process of sharing their stories and their final portrayal. Following this research Jess founded and co-chairs the Bond sponsored 'People in the Pictures working group', set up to bring about sector wide change towards more ethical practises in the creation and use of images of poverty.
You can see her work at https://www.jesscrombie.com