05/31/2020
This photograph has been on the wall of my bedroom for more than ten years. I’m drawn to it by the formal composition of the image but more so by the poise, dignity and hope of the subject. The title, “Sunflower Street” is in stark contrast to the subjects surroundings - nothing sunny about it. When this was taken in 1979 by Nicholas Nixon, I was a freshman in high school in rural Ohio, busy with college prep classes and dreaming of life beyond the cornfields. I’m sure the subject in Nixon’s photograph had dreams too. So much has changed and all too much has stayed the same. This powerful image is one of the first things I see when I wake up and among the last before I rest - a daily reminder that injustice exists, that we need to work for change and that hope is resilient - you can see it in her face.
