THE BIPOC PHOTO MENTORSHIP PROGRAM is just over two years old and, in that time, we have facilitated over 200 mentorship opportunities with almost 100 mentors from various areas of the photo industry and from all over the world. Mentee Joel Rodriguez was matched with mentor Surendra Lawoti and they spent three months working together on the production of Joel’s documentary project Certified Organic, an exploration of food production and regenerative agriculture in Canada. Both Joel and Surendra are working from an activist perspective and, though they both use a documentary approach, their practices are unique.

Joel relates that the mentorship opportunity came at the perfect time in his process. “My mentor Surendra Lawoti and I spoke at great length about various approaches I could take. His experience with large format photography really opened my eyes to new directions in the genre. Surendra helped me deconstruct my compositional choices and really pushed me to embrace the nuances that can be accentuated within a frame. I quickly learned that good critique most commonly poses more questions rather than direct assumptions.”

Indeed, Surendra and Joel were a great match, as they share a common interest in documenting people in a way that Surendra describes as “incorporating aspects of fragility, strength, and poise that elevates the people in photographic representation.” Surendra describes his approach to mentorship; “One of the things I did as part of the mentorship was show Joel my series This Country Is Yours, explaining the context of the work and the process.”

Questions of ethics and responsibilities are complicated and nuanced in documentary work, especially when the photographer is working from an activism angle. Intention and outcome were top of mind during this mentorship. Joel frames his practice: “Our way of seeing the world is ultimately based on our knowledge of it, and I believe social and political change can stem from challenging our perception of the world around us.” In Surendra’s case, he uses portraiture to focus on civil rights activists and movements in Nepal. The concepts of dignity and relationship to place is important in his work: “Through portraits of activists, I wanted to encapsulate the idea of negotiating historic injustices and internalizing a place of rightful dignity in one’s country,” he says.

Through his mentorship with Surendra, Joel realized that his aim was also to highlight the personal and the subjective experiences of migrant workers. He says, “Documentary photography is a practice that requires a lot from you. You are constantly grappling with the responsibility of taking someone’s photograph, a task which should never be taken lightly. Our conversations pushed me to further explore the pursuit behind the images I make.” Surendra adds, “During the interaction, I [talked] about how I am transparent with my subjects about the context of the work, the scope of the work, and ways the work could be disseminated. My photographic interaction was an act of solidarity for our common aspirations.”

Without question, mentorships can be personally transformative; Joel says,

According to Employment and Social Development Canada, “Approximately 50,000 to 60,000 foreign agricultural workers come to work in Canada each year.” Joel Rodriguez worked alongside, Casimiro, Luis, Jahir, Paulinho, and Emiliano, Mexican migrant workers on a farm in Owen Sound, Ontario in 2021.

photoED magazine would like to acknowledge the support of THINK TANK PHOTO for supporting the BIPOC PHOTO MENTORSHIP participants.

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