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For Laena Wilder, photography not only opens dialogue, but also creates a thought-provoking record. With a Bachelor’s degree in Documentary Photography and a Master of Fine Arts degree, Wilder uses the camera as a tool for gathering cultural information, promoting understanding and facilitating exchange within culturally diverse communities.
Her efforts have earned her a prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship Grant and her photographic projects have garnered financial and material support from the Polaroid Corporation, UCIS, the University Center for International Studies, the Epson Corporation, Central Carolina Bank, the Konica Corporation and Community 2000, a division of the Civil Rights Organization.
Wilder’s photographic work has included facilitating several “Kids with Camera’s” projects that span from Siler City, North Carolina to Durban, South Africa. Exhibitions of her photography have been displayed domestically and internationally, including the Kostroma Municipal Gallery in the former USSR, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, and SECCA-the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art.
Most recently Wilder teamed up with anthropologist Mary Strong and the University of Texas Press to produce a very unique textbook: “Viewpoints, Visual Anthropologists at Work.” This book introduces future anthropologists / historians / photographers to the practical, ethical, and cultural issues that arise while working with a camera in the field.
More info can be found at:
www.wildervision.com
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What inspires your photography?
Beauty.
Humanity.
Storytelling.
The historical value present in everyday moments.
Memory collecting.
The possibility that photography can be a vehicle for connection that transcends lines of culture, class, ethnicity, generations, time and space.
How did you come to be a LaCie user and why do you continue to use LaCie products?
Moving into the digital age was very challenging for me. It was hard as a documentary photographer to imagine replacing a negative, which you can hold in your hand, with something as vulnerable and intangible as a digital file. Viable long-term storage and archiving issues are critical because of the historical and cultural value of my work. When I got my first digital camera I started doing research and asking my peers about their hard drive choices. On the advice of fellow photographers, and due to its stellar reputation, I chose LaCie and I have never looked back.
What projects are you currently working on?
At the moment I am in the logistical preparation and fund-raising stage for a project I will be shooting at the Miami International Airport called “Origins and Destinations.” I will be using photographic portraiture to document and celebrate the cultural diversity of the population that moves through this complex crossroads of North and South, East and West. I look forward to working with a wide range of participants of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, collecting a myriad of stories within each portrait.
With the large-scale exhibition of these portraits at the Miami Airport, the show will be acknowledging that the people that move through the venue are unique and important within their vast differences. Each person has particular cultural facets, perhaps an indicator of where they came from or where they are going and it is worth taking notice. For the viewers that recognize a part of themselves within the portraits, there is the additional opportunity for cultural pride to be cultivated.
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How has digital storage impacted your work as a photographer?
It has become a crucial component to the success of my work. In my mind it is basically film, the new form my precious negatives have taken. Knowing I have reliable storage is essential.
Where do you take your LaCie drives?
Everywhere I go. I am incredibly enthusiastic about the LaCie Rugged drives. I like their physical design and durability; they are made to handle the vibrations of travel and the uncertainty of shooting on location. They have become my trusted travel companions- as important to my photographic process as the cameras I use.
What is the most important feature LaCie storage provides to you as a user?
Peace of mind. Knowing my images are safe, that they will make it home with me and that I have a long-term storage solution I can trust. |
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